RWBY: Rifts of Fate
by ShadowofAxios
Summary: Silver, Ash, Bai, and Rowan are transported to Remnant. There they have their own adventures with Ruby and the gang. All while Silver's true heritage is uncovered, and the movements of the White Fang change, with mysterious figures operating from the shadows. I own none of the RWBY characters along with RWBY itself, all of these are owned by RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.
1. A Strike of Fate

**This is my first fanfic. Please feel free to review and give me some suggestions. This will be an ongoing series.**

"Your big opportunity may be right where you are now."- Napoleon Hill

**Chapter 1: _A Strike of Fate_**

**Normal POV**

"Why are they always late when I ask them to meet me somewhere?" Silver wondered aloud. Silver Aurelius, a 17-year-old boy with golden eyes and black hair that had a silver streak running through it, and no it wasn't artificial. He ran his hand through his silvered hair, gained early in life, in agitation. He and his three friends were supposed to be getting together to hang out, and as time went on it looked like a thunderstorm was about to start. School had gone on break a couple days ago and they had arranged to party with some other friends of theirs.

_Looks like it might be an inside day today_, Silver thought.

"Hey, Silver!" someone yelled. Silver turned and looked to see who had called. He saw one of his best friends, Ash Winters approaching with an air of excitement and usual hint of pride. If someone thought Silver's hair was strange considering the usual non-dyed hair colors, Ash was something else. He had completely grey hair despite being only 17 and not much stress to cause something like it. His eyes were an ice blue and the way he held himself gave him an air of confidence and seeming nobility. However, Silver knew he could sometimes throw that away in favor of more important things.

"How's it going?" Silver asked.

"Not bad," Ash replied and continued, "Still waiting for the other two?"

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised they aren't here before you," he said jokingly.

At that moment two more approached from the opposite direction Ash had come from, one was Asian, and the other was Caucasian.

"Finally made it!" the Asian said, smirking. This was Bai Ryder, youngest of the group by a couple months, but also the smartest. He had snow-white hair and brown eyes twinkling from a knowingly sarcastic comment ready to be made. The other was Rowan Chase. He had short black hair with red streaks and piercing green eyes. He was laughing at the annoyed look that flashed across Silver's face.

"I thought you might get that look Silver," Rowan said, "We decided to get here a little late just to see how annoyed you got and it was worth those boring minutes waiting!"

Silver sighed. He should have known their being late was intentional. He did however smile because of just how well they knew him. While they had been standing there the clouds had been getting thicker and darker without them noticing. They were discussing many topics when finally they reached the most recent topic from the past week, RWBY.

"So the finale to RWBY volume 2 was pretty cool wasn't it?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah, they finally showed off Team CFVY's skills and Emerald's weapons," Ash said.

"I was more interested in what came after the credits," Bai said, "The mystery woman is rumored to be Yang's mom or of some other close relation."

They all looked at Silver, surprised at his not making a comment, being the group's biggest RWBY fan. Silver, however, was not completely paying attention, rather he was studying the sky above, wondering if the rain would start soon…

Snapping his fingers in front of Silver, Ash asked, "Hey Silver, are you doing alright? We've been discussing RWBY and you haven't said anything, that's not like you."

Silver having snapped out of his trance, replied, "Sorry, just feeling a little uneasy at the moment, I have a strange feeling something is about to happen and I don't know why…"

Just then, a roar of thunder reached them and the sky sparked. The group of four looked up just in time to see a strange, red bolt of lightning come down and hit them, causing their vision to go black. The flash subsided and revealed that the four had disappeared leaving a strange image of a shattered sphere on the ground…

**With Professor Ozpin**

Professor Ozpin was sitting in his office doing paperwork and looking through the lists of potential students to be accepted at his school for huntsmen-in-training, Beacon Academy. He was calmly looking through multiple files when his computer went off reporting massive energy readings. He suddenly became much more alert as he went through the locations and turned to the window as he watched two separate lightning bolts strike in the city, one in the courtyard of Beacon, and the last, without damaging anything, seemingly striking in the middle of his office. His eyes widened when he saw what had been deposited in the middle of his office. He saw a boy with black hair and a strange streak of silver going through it in a black hoodie that had a gold looking color on the inside of the hood. He stared in surprise for a moment before messaging Professors Goodwitch, Port, and Oobleck to investigate the other locations where the lightning had struck in case there were more. He walked around his desk and gently shook the boy awake. The boy opened his eyes to reveal a bright, golden color that was stunning to Ozpin. As the boy's eyes finally focused on him, Ozpin saw a flare of recognition in his eyes and wondered where he had come from. The professor then asked one simple question to the boy who was now looking at Ozpin and his surroundings with a confused look, "Who are you and how did you get here?"

The boy then replied, "My name is Silver Aurelius, and I have no idea how I got here."

**There is your introduction! More chapters will follow! It may take a little while after Chapter 2 as school is starting back up though.**


	2. Welcome to Remnant

**I was originally going to release this at a later date, but with the way things are going, I might as well just post it and keep working on chapter 3. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done." – Robert A. Heinbern

Chapter 2: Welcome to Remnant

**Normal POV**

Silver sat across from the person who had claimed to be Professor Ozpin, Headmaster at Beacon Academy, and couldn't believe his eyes. Either this was the most elaborate practical joke ever, or he had really been teleported to Remnant. Ozpin had explained to him how he had been the last to come in a flash of lightning that had somehow come on a perfectly clear day. He was told that he had sent out three teachers to investigate the other three points where lightning had struck. Silver wondered if his friends were alright…

**Ash's POV**

I woke up in front of what appeared to be a statue that looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't seem to place it. It appeared to be two figures with weapons, standing triumphantly over a monster coming out of a cave…

"_Where have I seen this statue before?"_ I thought.

I kept examining the statue when I heard someone cough behind me, making me jump. Standing behind me was a woman with blond hair in a bun with a curl coming down the right side of her face with bright green eyes, standing a few inches taller than myself, and wearing glasses, a white, long-sleeved shirt, a black business skirt and black boots with a brown heel. The moment I saw her, and finally recognized her and the outfit, I felt the blood drain from my face.

"_Is that Glynda Goodwitch?"_ I thought, shocked.

"Yes that is my name, but how do you know my name?" she asked.

I silently cursed myself for being so dumb and accidentally saying my thoughts aloud, that was absolutely out of character for me.

Pulling myself together I asked, "Where am I?"

She simply started walking away and said, "You are at Beacon Academy and the Headmaster would like to see you to discuss how that came to be."

I nodded and followed her wondering where the others were.

**Bai's POV**

As I awoke, I groaned from the slight pain from lying on the hard ground for what was probably a long time. After I had stood up, I looked around and got my bearings. I appeared to be in the middle of a city, with buildings, streets, and people I had never seen before. I turned around and saw I had been lying just outside what appeared to be a shop of some sort. I read the sign that had the name of the shop on it. It read as "From Dust Till Dawn". I looked at it, a spark of both curiosity and recognition in my eye.

Then I thought, _"No way. Am I where I think I am?"_

I was about to walk into the shop when a bold voice caused me to pause.

"Hello there! You seem a little out of place here. Would you happen to have just arrived a few minutes ago?"

I turned and saw a man a few inches shorter than me with gray hair and a matching mustache. He wore a red coat with gold accents and some sort of cravat with a white shirt underneath. He had his dark maroon pants tucked into his black knee-high boots. I very quickly recognized him once my mind had moved to the right mindset. Professor Port… I'm guessing he was looking for me, but why?

"You could say I arrived, but I don't know if that would really explain it all, do you?" I asked him.

"I do suppose that may be a bit 'simplified' to say the least, but in the interest of not drawing too much attention, let's leave it at that for now," he said.

"Alright," I said, "now that that's settled, what do you want from me?"

"I would like you to come with me," he said, "The Headmaster at Beacon Academy would like to talk to you about how you came to be here."

Figuring I didn't have any better options, I decided to go with him and see what the "headmaster" had in store for me. I dimly wondered if anyone else was brought here as well.

**Rowan's POV**

Waking up in the middle of what looked like some sort of docks, I decided this was not the best place I had ever woken up. I looked around, dazed from the sudden black out that had occurred what seemed like seconds before. I saw crates being loaded on and off of large freighters and saw that there was a strange snowflake-like symbol on a lot of the containers.

"_Why do those look so familiar?" _I wondered, looking for clues that tell me where I was.

I had the strangest feeling that I had seen this place before somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on it. That's when I saw the name of the company on one of the large crates, and that's when it finally clicked. The name on the side of the crate read simply, the "Schnee Dust Company".

"_Well this is just perfect,"_ I thought.

I was about to start walking off when a green and white blur blew past me and stopped right in front of me causing me to jump back. When the blur had stopped, it revealed itself to be a man with green hair, wearing circular lensed glasses, a white dress shirt with a yellow tie, and black pants and shoes. He was holding a coffee cup and just based off this information I guessed him to be Professor Oobleck. He stood a few inches taller than me and almost seemed to be examining me before finally speaking.

"Why hello there my dear boy! You don't seem to be from around here! If I were to wager, I'd say that you came down in that strike of lightning several minutes ago?" He said extremely quickly, not missing a beat.

I blinked before saying, "I don't know about coming down in lightning, but I only just woke up here a few minutes ago and I don't know how I got here if that's what you were asking."

He nodded and started off in the direction of what looked to be a city street, before saying, "Well come along then, we best be off to see the headmaster, he wanted to see you and discuss the circumstances of your arrival. I'm sure we'll have this figured out in no time!"

Sighing from the speed at which he was talking, I went to follow him as I wondered where the others were.

* * *

**Normal POV, Ozpin's Office**

About half an hour later, the four teens were finally gathered together in Professor Ozpin's office with the four teachers. Silver, preferring to wait until his friends had arrived before beginning their recollection and backstory leading up to their teleportation to Remnant, had not given Ozpin much more than their names and ages.

After a few moments of silence, Ozpin took a sip of his coffee before finally asking, "Soooo, would you boys mind telling me what you know about how you ended up where you were and where you came from?"

The four boys sat in silence until Silver decided to speak and said, "It's a long story that I'm not sure you'll believe."

Ozpin leaned forward and said, "Try me."

And so, they told the teachers of their plans of their break and how the storm had brewing, Silver described the way he had been examining the clouds because he had felt something was off, and they described how they had all looked up in time to see a red flash of lightning and blacking out before waking up in their respective locations.

While Professors Goodwitch and Port looked shocked at the revelation that they were all from an alternate dimension, Oobleck and Ozpin looked thoughtful.

Ozpin asked for more information on their dimension and proof that what they were saying was true. Silver then stood up and dug through his backpack, which had survived the trip to Remnant. He had forgotten to clean it out of his school supplies and had taken out a history textbook, which he then handed to Ozpin while also putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out is smartphone.

After letting Ozpin examine both, he said, "Our world is very much different from yours in many ways, large and small."

The four then started taking turns explaining key points of Earth's history and information.

"There is no record of any faunus or Grimm having ever lived on Earth," Bai said.

"There are about 200 different countries on our world with a total population of about 7 billion and a few hundred major languages spoken throughout the world," Rowan said, shocking the teachers at the number of people.

"Documented human history goes back at least 3000 years, with that book holding about 500 years worth of information." Ash said.

Silver delivered something more shocking than the population number and admittedly, more barbaric than their world when he said, "Because there has been no interaction between humans and faunus on our world, human found new reasons to hate, such as skin color, religion, and personal dispositions, all of which had often led to persecution and war."

This last piece of information was met with silence as the teachers mulled that one over.

Finally, Ozpin spoke, saying, "Well, this certainly has been an eventful evening, but I feel I need to ask, what do you plan on doing now?"

The four boys looked at each other and then the other three looked at Silver who just inwardly groaned and said, "We don't really know, we don't exactly know enough about this world to have a smooth life, without a certain amount of… help."

Ozpin seemed to think about this for a few moments and seemed to come to a decision. He said, "How would you feel about attending my school?"

All four boys froze, their brains going into overdrive as excitement and uncertainty flashed across all of their faces. When they had all come to a silent decision, they looked at each other and nodded.

Silver, seeing the vote was unanimous, said, "We accept, but I do hope you realize that we are more than a little under equipped?"

Ozpin smiled a little and said, "I'm sure that can be remedied, meet me here, in my office, tomorrow morning and we will begin helping you to prepare for the coming year. Until then, you four should get some rest. Professor Goodwitch if you would please escort them to a temporary dorm room, we can talk about this later."

Ash turned back as they were leaving and said, "Thank you sir."

Getting similar words of appreciation from the other three, Ozpin smile a little more and said, "You are welcome, and welcome to Beacon."

The boys returned his smile and then the elevator shut, taking the boys and Professor Goodwitch down to the ground floor to head to the dormitories.

Ozpin turned and looked out his window, wondering if he had made the right decision.

"_Welcome to Beacon indeed,"_ he thought.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that! Sorry for the jumpiness of this chapter, but you can expect a longer and most likely less jumpy chapter next time.**


	3. Familiar Faces

**Just in case you didn't notice, I will be starting each chapter off with a quote that I feel summarizes at least one part of the chapter, it's not a spoiler, but I am trying to keep to the general themes and feel of RWBY, so I will continue with this until I either run out, or I just need to concentrate on cranking out another couple chapters. Please enjoy this chapter of RWBY: Rifts of Fate.**

"Every human walks around with a certain kind of sadness. They may not wear it on their sleeves, but it's there if you look deep." – Taraji P. Henson

* * *

**Chapter 3: Familiar Faces**

**Silver's POV**

Two months… That's how much time has gone by since Ash, Bai, Rowan, and I had accepted Professor Ozpin's offer to attend Beacon Academy. The very next day, he and the other teachers had help the four of us unlock our aura, then we started to train. Stopping only to sleep and eat, we forged our weapons. Rowan shocked all of the professors when he made what was quite possibly the most powerful sniper rifle ever seen in Remnant, and he somehow handled the recoil extremely well. To top it off, he had cleverly hidden a sword underneath the barrel, allowing for close range combat when necessary. Bai had what was quite possibly one of the most ingenious weapons I had ever seen. He had constructed a bow that used a strand of hard light as the string and was able to fire either his dust-infused trick arrows or arrows of light, provided his weapon didn't run out of dust. To top it all off, he built it so that he could split it at the middle to make two short swords. Ash, being his unpredictable self, made a weapon that seemed unorthodox for fighting Grimm but soon proved us all wrong. He built a pair of wrist blades infused with dust that could pretty much instantly kill a weaker Grimm. The truly amazing part was the improved guns attached to each blade. All he has to do is flick his finger in a certain way or flex his hand in a certain way and suddenly there is semi-auto fire peppering his target. My weapons aren't all that special outside of the fact that my weapons aren't the traditional combo weapons. I have two one-handed katanas and two revolvers. One katana has a matte black blade with a white hilt, while the other is a bright white blade with a black hilt and they can both conduct my aura very well. The revolvers followed the same theme, except they also use colors represented in my name. One is black and silver, and the other is white and gold.

After two weeks of intense combat training and trips into the Emerald Forest, our semblances started to manifest. I had power over lightning, attacking and moving with it, Ash discovered that he was capable of phasing through solid objects as well as letting non-dust attacks go through him, Bai found he had a certain amount of control over light, creating shields, flashes, and occasionally lasers, and Rowan discovered that he could turn invisible as well as an object he is touching invisible.

With our semblances manifested, and our weapons being close to mastered, we trained hard to make sure we were ready for the coming year. We could only hope we didn't start out too far behind…

I rolled out of the way and avoided the dust arrow as it flew past. It was starting to get difficult to get close to Bai as he kept firing arrow after arrow trying to take me down.

"_I need to end this fast,"_ I thought looking at my half-full aura gauge. Bai was at about the same level thanks to some well placed hits early on, but was now on the offensive.

I needed to find a way to get close or knock his guard down long enough to get close. I dove behind cover and thought for a couple seconds before smiling. I drew my pistols and ran out of cover and started firing, putting Bai on the defensive, I then put them away, launched a bolt of lightning at him, distracting him while I simultaneously willed my lightning to surround me and let me travel as fast as lightning.

As Bai dodged the bolt, I sped up to a point above him, too fast for him to see me, drew my swords, and then launched myself down, charging my blades with lightning, and struck him hard and fast speeding around him until his aura was in the red, ending the match.

I landed and sheathed my swords. When I turned looked at my friend who was still lying on the ground looking shocked, pun intended.

Walking over, I extended my hand to him and said, "Good fight, you almost had me for a while there."

The boy in the white hoodie smiled and said, "Yeah? Well it's not like I can keep track of you when you activate your semblance like that."

Bai was wearing his battle gear, which consisted of a white hoodie with black highlights with dark jeans and black boots. His armor consisted of a half plate under the half zipped hoodie, white steel gauntlets and shin armor along with white steel shoulder armor. He had his quiver of trick arrows on his back that obscured his emblem on his back, which consisted of a black arrowhead that appeared to be smoking. His weapon was sitting next to him in bow form, which he soon split into swords, named _Apollo_ and _Artemis_. Sheathing both, he readjusted his glasses and made sure he had everything before leading the way out of the training arena.

We went to the cafeteria for lunch and found Ash in the middle of his meal. Ash sat wearing his combat clothing like Bai and me. His clothing was grey and white. He had based much of his appearance off of Connor Kenway from Assassin's Creed 3, except for the moccasins. His jacket did however have the beaked hood and coat tails. Most of the jacket was grey with parts of the coat tails and center of the jacket being white. He wore black combat pants and boots along with a dark grey shirt and shoulder armor over his right shoulder. He also had a black vest resembling Kevlar over his shirt. His emblem was on the left side of his vest and on the back of his jacket. His emblem consisted of two white blades crossed over a red eagle. His wrist blades, named _Charon's Dissolution _were on but hidden well with the jacket, and clipped to his belt, looking harmless, was his laser sword in case of emergencies, simply dubbed _Enemy's Bane._

He looked up as we approached with our food and said, "Hey guys, training session go well?" The underlying question was, _"Who won?"_

"He almost beat me this time, he's starting to get better at adapting to faster fighting styles and I can see him beating me in a couple of weeks," I said.

"I don't know about that, wasn't Ash helping you with a new technique to use your semblance with?" Bai said, looking more skeptical than normal.

"That may be true, but the technique is far from ready. The few times I attempted to fully use it, I passed out and didn't wake up for three hours," I replied.

"You're still able to use the basic forms of it though, it isn't like you can't do it at all, you just can't manage the most powerful part yet," Ash said, trying to encourage my efforts.

I sighed knowing that we still had some work to do before the technique was perfected. Then I'd have to make sure my outfit didn't get in the way of using it too much. Maybe if I took my cloak off when using the most powerful form of it?

Like my friends, I had my own signature battle gear, although I have spare sets that differ slightly from the usual one. I have a white shirt with the armor sewn into it along with black combat pants and combat boots, both having gold accents on the seams and metal pieces. I wore a black jacket with armor sewn in along the back and front along with two stripes going down each side, one stripe was gold and the other was silver. My holsters were attached to my thighs containing my revolvers, the black and silver on the left, dubbed _Silver Shadow,_ and the white and gold, dubbed, _Star of Regulus,_ on the right. My swords, _Dark Light_ and _White Darkness_, sat in their respective sheaths beneath my cloak, each on the alternate side of their gun counterparts. My cloak was custom made to be extremely durable and light, going down to just behind my knees. It was colored black with silver trim going around the edges.

We kept eating and talking about our successful 2 months of training and how even Ozpin had stated that he was impressed with our quick catch-up to be on par with the other students. Drifting on a darker topic, we quickly discussed our investigations into criminal activity around Vale, having found nothing substantial for sometime outside of a train car full of Dust being stolen and a gang hideout being blown up.

I had just downed the contents of a vial of Dust while the others weren't looking and thought, _"That should help it stabilize and also become more powerful…"_

Just then, a boy in red burst into the cafeteria and ran to our table, slipping and sliding past before getting back up and coming back over.

The boy revealed himself to be Rowan, a person who could take aim and fire with pinpoint accuracy in a second. He was wearing his usual red button-up hoodie with his black shirt, dark jeans and boots. He had his black shooter's gloves on with his bracers to protect his arms. He had a dark metal plate strapped onto his back to protect from injury from behind. His shin protectors, painted to look black from one angle and red from another, stood out distinctly from his jeans, forming to his legs perfectly. His sniper rifle was strapped to his back with the barrel and stock retracted for easier carrying.

He must have been extremely excited if he was losing his footing that easily. He had one of the biggest grins on his face that I had seen in a while. Something had to be up.

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "What has you so excited?" much to the similar looks coming from around the table.

He looked us all straight in the eyes and said, "I ran into Ozpin just now, and he said that a couple of airships would be here soon carrying the rest of the new students."

He let that sink in and watched our reactions. Bai's eyes simply lit up a little bit and gave a small smile, Ash was looking very excited and looked like he was ready to hop out of his seat. I was feeling very similar to him except just a bit more sedated.

"Well? Shall we go see what we've been waiting for?" Bai asked.

We all smiled and went outside to see the fireworks that would soon be happening.

* * *

**Normal POV**

The four walked out just in time to watch an airship land at one of the docks and see students walking off of the craft.

"Anyone see them?" Ash asked.

"They should be coming to that center area any moment now," Silver said.

True to his word, a pair of girls, one had blond hair and the other had black with streaks of red, had entered the area Silver had indicated. They watched, as the girls seemed to have a small argument and the blond one left with a group of people, leaving the poor black and red haired girl spinning before collapsing on a pile of cases.

"Uh oh…" Rowan said, appearing to brace himself for something.

"What are you doing?" The yell could be heard all the way over to where the boys were standing.

A white-haired girl had just appeared and started yelling at the girl on the ground.

Bai sighed and said, "Come on, let's go make sure 'The Heiress' calms down a little."

The others agreed and made their way over to the two girls, who continued to argue with each other. However, they didn't quite make it in time to stop the girl who was on the ground, recently back on her feet, from inhaling some Dust and sneezing out an explosion.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" The white-haired girl said, absolutely yelling at the poor girl in red.

"Excuse me ladies, do we have a problem over here?" Ash asked, coming up from behind them. They both looked at him, one with curiosity, the other with an icy glare, you guess who did what.

"This dunce nearly blew us both off a cliff after inhaling my Dust!" said the very irritated girl, before her look changed to curiosity and interest when she looked Ash up and down.

"Perhaps that could have been avoided if you hadn't been shaking it everywhere, am I right my dear Ice Queen?" said Silver as we walked up behind Ash, smothering his laughter.

Before she could say anything, a girl with black hair and a bow on her head walked up and said, "It's 'Heiress' actually."

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." she said.

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said before she was cut off by the other girl as she continued, "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces, and questionable business partners."

Weiss seemed to be lost for words as she switched from one sentence of outrage to another while the girl in red laughed behind her. She grabbed a dropped bottle of dust from the black-haired girl's hand and was walking off when she slammed into something solid and looked around, confused. Just then, Rowan materialized out of thin air, showing that he had been watching, invisible. The girl didn't bother speaking as she flashed him a look that said, 'I will not hesitate to stab you if you get on my bad side", and continued walking.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" the girl in red shouted after her, while Rowan sat on the ground, still laughing a little.

"Well that could have gone better," Bai said, hopping down from the pillar he had been perched on, watching the scene.

"Guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." The girl in red said, before turning to the black-haired girl and saying, "So… What's…" realizing that the girl was walking away. The poor girl collapsed to the ground and simply said, "Welcome to Beacon."

The four friends watched as a blond haired boy in armor walked over and put out his hand, saying, "Hey… I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." She said.

"And that was one heck of beginning to our day," Bai said.

The two turned facing the four people who had been watching.

"Oh yeah! I remember you two!" she said, pointing at Silver and Ash. "Who are you?" she continued, now curious again.

Silver stepped forward and said, "I'm the _lightning fast_ Silver Aurelius."

Then Ash stepped forward and said, "I'm the _untouchable_ Ash Winters."

Bai walked up a bit more to join them, and said, "I'm Bai Ryder, _the blinding light_."

Rowan, having gone invisible for dramatic effect, reappeared next to them and said, "I am the _unseen shot_, Rowan Chase."

The other two smiled as they introduced themselves.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two, Jaune and Ruby," Ash said, flashing a smile.

"So, shall we head to the opening ceremony?" asked Bai.

After a short walk, and a rant from Jaune about motion sickness being much more common than people think, they arrived at the ceremony.

As Silver, Ash, Bai, and Rowan followed Ruby over to where her sister was standing, Jaune accidentally bumped into a girl with bright red hair and as they started their conversation, Silver smiled a bit. They made it over to Ruby and her sister just as Weiss came up behind Ruby and yelled at her again for nearly blowing them off the side of the cliff.

Ash then came up from behind Weiss tapping on her shoulder before handing her a white rose and saying, "Come on Snow Angel, I'm sure you're tougher than you look. I doubt that a small explosion is going to do anything to take you out." He winked at her and went back to stand next to the group and the newly introduced Yang.

She looked at him with interest and went to go stand next to him just as Headmaster Ozpin's speech started.

Ozpin walked up to the microphone, clearing his throat, and started, "I'll, keep this brief." Silver raised an eyebrow at the lack of emotion behind that sentence.

After a short pause, Ozpin continued saying, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can carry you only so far. It is up to you, to take the first step." Finishing, he turned and walked off, with Professor Goodwitch walking up.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she said, "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready."

While Silver stared calmly after Ozpin, Yang said, "He seemed kind of… off."

To which Ruby responded, "Yeah, almost as if he wasn't even there."

* * *

**Several Hours Later, Silver's POV**

I had moved to the second floor as more students started entering the ballroom. I now sat on the frame of an open window, observing the night sky. The cool air breeze felt nice against my face as I picked out the constellations I had never seen before. I was starting to enjoy the peace, quiet and beauty that lay before me, when I felt a presence come from behind me. It definitely wasn't Ash, Bai, or Rowan, they had already gone to sleep, so I turned, wondering who it could be. To my slight surprise, it was Yang, having just come up the stairs, obviously looking for me, as I was the only one up here.

"Oh, hey Yang, what are you doing up here?" I asked, not expecting an encounter with her tonight.

"I watched you come up here earlier, and came to make sure you were alright," she said, curiosity and concern in her eyes.

I'll admit, I was taken aback a little at the kindness she was showing me, despite having met me only a few hours ago. When I finally got over my shock, I said, "Apart from the fact that I'm not big on crowds, I've been having a bit of trouble getting to sleep lately, ever since I arrived a little while ago, I've had this strange sensation going through my head like this is familiar, but the memories aren't my own. Does that sound strange or is it just me?"

She gave me a long, concerned look, and finally said, "Well I don't know about the strange sensation, but I'm sure Ruby and I can help you get some sleep, there aren't many people around us."

"Thanks," I said with genuine appreciation.

I got up, closed the window, and followed her down the stairs over to where she and her sister were set up. Ruby was lying down, writing in what appeared to be a journal when Yang plopped down next to her and announced my presence.

"Hi Silver! You coming to sleep over here?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, the smaller crowd appeals to me in ways you probably wouldn't imagine." I said.

As I set up my sleeping mat, I heard Yang ask her sister what she was writing and about how she thought it was cute that her sister was communicating with her friends who weren't able to come to Beacon yet. Then, I heard a match strike, and saw that someone had lit a candle and was reading a book. It was the black-haired girl from earlier, Blake, although Ruby and Yang didn't know that.

Ruby looked up and said, "That girl…"

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really," Ruby responded, "She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."

Then, Yang was dragging a protesting Ruby over to the black-haired girl with a loud, "Hello!"

She looked up from her book, looking slightly annoyed, and I decided to join the group that had started to form.

Looking at the girl, Yang said, "I believe that you two may, know each other?"

To which she responded, looking at Ruby, saying, "Aren't you… That girl who exploded?"

"Uh, yeah," she responded, holding out her hand before taking it back at the look on the other girl's face, "The name's Ruby, but you can just call me Crater… actually you can just call me Ruby."

Seeing the awkward look on the younger girl's face, I stepped in to fill the gap and introduced myself, saying, "My name is Silver Aurelius, could I ask, what is your name?"

"Blake," she said simply.

"Well Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!" Yang said, introducing herself.

"Nice night don't you think?" she said awkwardly.

"Yes, it's lovely, almost as lovely as this book," she said, continuing with, "That I will continue to read. As soon as you leave."

"Yeah, this girl is a lost cause," Yang said.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked.

"Huh?" Blake asked, confused.

"Your book, what's it about?" Ruby clarified.

"It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control of his body." Blake said, suddenly showing interest in Ruby.

"Yeah, sometimes feels that way doesn't it," I said under my breath.

None of them took notice, which was probably a good thing for me. Ruby told about how Yang used to read stories about heroes and monsters to her every night before bed, and how that was one of the reasons she wanted to become a huntress.

Deciding to leave them to their conversation, I bade them goodnight and went over to my mat, chuckling as Weiss came over and started arguing with Yang and Ruby.

I fell asleep knowing that the next day was going to be a very long day.

* * *

I opened my eyes and very quickly realized I was not awake just yet. I stood in the middle of a snowy clearing with a cliff going along one edge, and something that looked like an altar close to the edge of the cliff. Next to the altar, facing me was what appeared to be a woman in a white cloak. Her hood was pulled up, but I could see the lower part of her face, and she just simply smiled at me. This was something like the fifth time I had had this dream, and I was trying to understand why I was dreaming about Summer Rose of all people. All the dream ever consisted of was just her smiling at me until I woke up. All I could really do was stand there and think about what this dream could mean and what made it so important that it had to keep reappearing…

* * *

**Outside the Dream, Yang's POV**

I awoke with a start to a small electric shock in what must have been the middle of the night. I would have normally just passed it off as me rubbing against my blanket wrong if I hadn't seen Silver. He was literally sending small electric shocks in random directions, most dissipating a short distance from his body, others making contact with other objects. That wasn't even the most concerning part either. His face looked mostly peaceful, but based on the fact that his semblance was obviously starting to go out of control, I'd say he was very stressed. I saw Ash a short distance away, and quickly ran over and woken up. He didn't look to pleased about being woken up, but when I told him what was going on with Silver, he was instantly awake as could be.

"How long has stuff like this been happening with him?" I asked as we tried to calm Silver down.

"It started about two months ago when we first arrived at Beacon." He answered.

I decided to skip the part where they had already been at Beacon for two months, and said, "What do you usually do to calm him down?"

"Usually I try to get him to wake up and calm him down, but I can never do it until it reaches a certain point." Ash said.

I narrowed my eyes and asked, "What do you mean, a certain point?"

He opened his mouth to answer when Silver made a sound like he was clearing his throat, and did something I would not have ever expected. He started to half sing, half whisper, the lyrics to a song I knew all too well.

"Red… like roses fills my dreams… and brings me to the… place you rest."

Ash looked at me with wide eyes as he saw my reaction to the lyrics coming out of Silver's mouth as he continued.

"White… is cold and always… yearning, burdened by… the royal test."

"Black… the beast… descends from… shadows."

"Yellow… beauty burns… gold."

I stared as Silver's semblance came back under control and his breathing became less erratic. She didn't know why this was happening, but sooner or later, she was going to be asking Silver where he had learned the song that Summer Rose had sung to her and Ruby when they were little.

* * *

**Normal POV**

As Yang and Ash went back to sleep, they didn't notice the gold and ice-blue eyes that had been watching the entire ordeal.

* * *

**So, this has certainly been quite the chapter. Sorry if the beginning seemed drawn out, but for what I have planned there is no room left for character development to keep it going smooth. Yes, Silver is the de facto main character but I will have certain pieces that revolve more around the other 3 OC's as well. Until next week, keep it smooth, keep it going, and don't forget to follow or leave a review! (It helps)**


	4. Initiation

**I was originally going to post this a couple days from now but I decided, heck with it. The readers want it, I'll give it to them. Enjoy!**

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." - Shakespeare

**Chapter 4: Initiation**

**Silver's POV**

I woke to the sound of snoring nearby and saw Yang sleeping a few feet away. I blinked away the sleep in my eyes and looked at my watch, which was lying nearby. It read as 6:45 a.m. Realizing I wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep with Yang's chainsaw of a snore, I got up and left to go get ready for the day. I went through my morning routine before finally throwing on my newly cleaned battle wear and cloak and heading outside to wait for breakfast as it wasn't served for another hour. Settling in the branch of a tree, I lied down to wait. After about fifteen minutes of silence and thought, I heard someone walk up to the tree I was sitting in. I peeked open one eye to see who it was and opened both fully upon realizing who it was. It was Ozpin, and it seemed he was interested in talking with me.

"Anything I can help you with Professor?" I asked, wondering what his tracking me down could mean.

"Seeing as you're the only one awake at Beacon, besides me, right now, I had hoped we could take a walk and have a little chat." He said, smiling a tiny bit.

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he could possibly want to talk to me about. I jumped down from my position in the tree and motioned for him to lead the way.

As we walked, he said, "I see that you and your friends training has been coming along nicely ever since you first arrived here. In a mere two months, you have become skilled enough to even be among some of the best I've seen at this school, no small feat, as most train for years to become as good as you are."

Taking this praise with grace, I responded, "Yes, well I doubt many other students have had pretty close to the undivided attention of most of the staff of Beacon for an entire two months."

He chuckled and said, "Very true. You are among the lucky few who have had an opportunity such as that arise." Growing a bit more serious, however, he said, "I'm sorry Silver, while the progress you have made is extraordinary, the real reason I wanted to talk to you was about the events of last night."

I simply stared at him, shocked. I was very much hoping he would never find out about what happened when I dreamed of the snowy clearing.

I narrowed my eyes and asked, "How much do you know?"

Ozpin sighed before replying, "Did you honestly think I wouldn't notice the haunted looks you would sometimes get over these past two months? It's just like you said, you and your friends had the staff's undivided attention for two months, how could we not notice?"

I stayed silent, hoping he didn't already know what was actually troubling me.

"So, what exactly has been going on that makes you start sparking and talking in your sleep for five to ten minutes at a time?"

I looked around, making sure no one was around, and only once I was sure that no one was watching, did I say, "Before I tell you anything, you need to swear that you won't tell anyone, and I mean anyone, what I am about to say, especially Yang and Ruby, no matter how important it may seem that they know, got it?"

He looked shocked at my urgency, then narrowed his eyes at my implications and nodded.

I sighed before saying, "It's a dream that keeps coming back every couple weeks, I've been having it ever since I arrived on Remnant. At first, I didn't think anything of it, but then it kept coming back, and Ash was telling me about what happened on the nights that I had the dream."

"And what does this have to do with Yang and Ruby?" he asked, deadly serious.

"Everything."

"How so?"

I whispered the answer very quietly, causing him to ask me to repeat myself. I took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye, and finally said, "It's about Summer Rose."

He stopped right in his tracks as I said that, and all color seemed to drain from his face. After a long while, he asked me, "How do you know about her?" He was very, very quiet as he said that, seemingly making sure that no one heard us despite there being nobody around.

I decided to answer him painfully truthfully, and replied, "I'm sorry Ozpin, but I can't tell you that, and I hope to never have to tell you that. All I can tell you is that for some reason, I know why I know about her objectively, but ever since I came to this world, it feels like I knew her… personally."

His eyes widened at what that last part could imply, but nodded and said, "We will talk more about this later, but right now I suggest that you go get some breakfast and prepare yourself for your initiation."

I nodded before walking off to the cafeteria, a weight having been taken off my chest from finally telling Ozpin about my dreams.

Sitting with Ash, Bai, and Rowan in the cafeteria, I told them about my chat with Ozpin. Bai and Rowan thought it was good that I had finally told Ozpin, but Ash looked a little nervous, because he was the only person that I had shared my theories about the dream with. Yang and Ruby had come to eat breakfast with us, although the blond didn't seem to have much to say, which I found odd, but shrugged it off, it was none of my business anyway. Yang and Ruby finished breakfast rather quickly and went off to prepare their weapons. After a few minutes, we went to the weapon locker room to get ourselves ready as well.

We entered just as the two I recognized as Ren and Nora were leaving, Nora running to catch up to him. We saw Yang and Ruby just as they were finishing up getting ready and hurried ourselves to our lockers to grab our weapons. Downing the Dust vial in my hand and strapping all armor and weapon holsters where they needed to go, I headed back over to where Ruby and Yang were talking just in time to hear Ruby say, "I don't need people to help me grow up, I drink milk."

"What about when we form teams?" Yang asked.

"I don't know… maybe I'll just be on your team," she said, a little uncertainly.

"Maybe you should try being on someone else's team…" Yang said, playing with her hair.

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" Ruby asked, looking at her in a bit of an outrage.

"She's right you know," I said, coming closer to them.

They looked at me, Yang sighing from the save, and Ruby just looking at the ground acknowledging the truth in my words. Luckily, Rowan came over and was able to cheer Ruby up considerably by turning invisible and tickling her a bit. I overheard Weiss talking to Pyrrha about whose team she would like to be on, with Jaune coming up and being his normal, Weiss-chasing self, and telling her that there was still some room on his team.

When Weiss started talking about how he was not worthy of being on a team with her or Pyrrha, Ash suddenly appeared and said, "Oh come on Snow Angel, don't be so cold. I think Jaune shows potential, he just as a couple of personal issues to work out before he can fully reach it."

"I agree," Pyrrha said, making Jaune go wide-eyed as he looked between the two who were supporting him.

I noticed that Weiss was still looking at Ash with interest. _"Ah, the tease material,"_ I thought.

Professor Goodwitch's voice came over the speaker with her announcing, "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately. As the everyone filed out of the locker room, I noticed Weiss staring after Ash in a way I would have never thought she would have looked at him, I could swear that what I saw was a spark of what could be admiration, leaning towards love. Oh boy was I going to have a fun day with Ash.

**Normal POV**

When all of the students had finally arrived on the cliff and taken their places on one of the platforms, Ozpin started by saying, "For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be tested in the Emerald Forest."

Professor Goodwitch continued with his train of thought by saying, "Now, I'm sure all of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion, each of you will be given teammates, today."

Silver heard a complaint from Ruby.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin said, earning another complaint from Ruby. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Silver heard an outraged, "What?" from Ruby.

Ozpin continued, "After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern part of the forest, you will meet opposition along the way, don not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Silver picked up a nervous laugh and a gulp from Jaune.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune started before being interrupted by Ozpin.

"Good! Now take your positions."

Silver adjusted his cloak and put on his sunglasses, activating the HUD that he had installed there. Ash through up his hood and prepared his blades. Bai activated his bow and readjusted his glasses. Rowan cocked his sniper and made sure his sword was secure before putting on his specialized monocle that helped him calculate his aim for wind speed and bullet drop. Silver heard Jaune continuing to ask his question and saluted Ozpin before being launched into the air.

* * *

**With Ash**

Ash flew through the air for a few seconds, waiting for his arc to reach its peak. As he started to head towards the ground, he used the guns attached to his wrists to slow his decent before using a hook blade to catch a branch to start swinging from branch to branch before lightly landing on the ground. He started running north and he heard fighting up ahead, so he sped up to see if he could help. By the time he got there though, the fight had ended and he ran into a clearing where Blake and Yang had just met and become partners. They turned as he entered the clearing, and Yang, realizing who it was, had him pinned against a tree, eyes glowing red, before he could even attempt to move.

"You told me how long, but I now want to know why Silver reacts like that in his sleep sometimes," she said in a clearly pissed off voice.

"I can't tell you that Yang. I'm sorry, I wish I could," he said, an edge of fear in his voice, he did not want to get punched by Yang, at all.

"Why can't you tell me?" she half whispered.

"It's a trust thing, besides I don't entirely know what its about either. If you really want to know, you're just going to have to ask him," he said.

"Regardless of Aurelius' problems, I think we should get moving. We will solve that mystery another day," Blake said suddenly, causing the two to look at her, shocked.

"Yes, I saw what happened, and if I am correct, Weiss did too."

Ash stared at Blake for a moment and said, "Ruby didn't see anything right?" He was very nervous about that particular piece of information, as Silver had mentioned that Ruby could not be allowed to find out the contents of his dream.

Blake shook her head and Ash sighed in relief.

"Why are you so worried about Ruby finding out?" Yang asked.

"Let's just say that if the contents of his dream were to be revealed before he and Ozpin can figure out its meaning it could be a big problem. He didn't give me any solid details about the dream, but he seemed particularly worried about Ruby finding out," he said.

Suddenly, a thought dawned on Yang, "Last question: Where did he learn that song? That was part of a lullaby that me and Ruby's mother used to sing to us when we were little."

Ash visibly tensed up, he had known this question would come, but he hadn't had time to come up with a believable answer so he just said, "Sorry, I can't tell you that either, I know the answer, but again, it's a trust thing, you're just going to have to ask him yourself."

They relaxed and Yang just looked resigned and said, "Come on, let's just get going towards that temple."

The three headed north while a pillar of smoke rose up behind them.

* * *

**With Silver**

Silver had landed easily thanks to his lightning teleportation technique, but had unfortunately landed in the middle of a pack of Beowolves. He didn't even have a second to draw his weapons before they attacked, so he had had to resort to using his semblance. He had, in the blink of an eye, coated his fist in lightning and punched a Beowolf in the face, instantly killing it. He drew his revolvers and started firing into the pack surrounding him. As they finally came close enough to strike him, he holstered the guns and drew his swords, charging them with his semblance. As the first beowolf swung at him, he jumped over it and started tearing through the pack until there were none left standing. Silver sheathed his swords and noticed a pillar of smoke along with sounds of fighting coming from nearby and rushed over to help whoever was over there, though he already knew. He stopped at the edge of the clearing and watched as Ruby and Weiss fought the rest of the pack of Beowolves. He drew _Silver Shadow _and started picking off unsuspecting Beowolves. As the last few went down, the two huntresses-in-training noticed the gunshots that weren't there own and noticed Silver as he was reloading.

"When did you get here?" Weiss asked.

Silver was going to reply when Ruby appeared in a flurry of rose petals right in front of him and said, "Ohmygosharethoseyourweaponswhatdotheydowhatkindofroundsdoyouusewhatdoyourswordsdo?"

Silver blinked. He had known that Ruby was a weapon geek, but hadn't expected to get questioned about his weapons in such a fast way.

He made eye contact with Weiss and they had a short, and completely silent, conversation that went something like this:

_A little help here?_

She raised an eyebrow as if to say: _Why should I?_

He looked at her in outrage: _Really? Are you serious?_

She simply smiled with amusement: _I am very serious Aurelius._

His face went blank before sending her a glare: _Fine, I'll owe you one, happy?_

She stopped to consider this and smiled: _Hmm… Deal._

Weiss walked over and tapped Ruby on the shoulder, getting her to stop asking questions. Ruby turned to Weiss, curious about why she had actually tried to act like she was her partner.

Weiss just said, "You can ask Mr. Aurelius about his weapons later, right now we need to get to the temple and grab a relic."

Ruby nodded, looking just a little disappointed.

Silver cheered her up a little by saying, "Come on Ruby, smile, maybe I'll show you the inner workings of my revolvers later."

The black and red haired girl perked up at this and almost crashed into a tree in her rush to catch up to the two who were walking away.

* * *

**With Bai and Rowan**

Bai and Rowan rushed north through the trees, killing any Grimm in their path. Bai had _Apollo_ and _Artemis_ in their sword forms and Rowan was using a combination of bullets and his sword to keep the Grimm from taking him down. As they ran, they were talking.

"Think Silver and Ash have found each other yet?" Rowan asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see, we agreed to make sure we got the same relic as them remember? My guess is that they're with one of the other pairs, working their way to the temple," Bai replied.

"I think we're almost there!" Rowan shouted.

They burst through the tree line and found Blake, Yang, and Ash examining the temple and the relics placed there. Blake and Yang had already collected their piece and were taking a break before heading back. They looked up as the two boys came through and just looked at them in bewilderment.

"Did you two just run through the trees all the way here?" Blake asked.

They just nodded before looking at Ash and grabbing what appeared to be one of the white king pieces. Ash nodded before picking up the other one and pocketing it. Then they heard an ear-splitting scream from a distance away.

Yang turned toward it and said, "Some girl is in trouble!"

The three boys looked at each other and simultaneously deadpanned and said, "Jaune."

"What? There is no way that was Jaune!" Yang said.

Ash just shrugged and looked up and moved a little to his left as a voice was heard from above saying, "Heads up!"

Ruby came flying out of the sky as Jaune came flying out of nowhere, slamming into Ruby and they both landed in a tree. Silver landed next to Ash and made eye contact with him, solidifying their partnership.

"Got the relic?" he asked.

"Yep, now we just have to survive," Ash said.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked Yang.

"I…" Yang started before being interrupted by an Ursa entering the clearing.

They heard a "Yee Ha" and an explosion before the Ursa collapsed and Nora could be seen on its back. She quickly got up and examined it, saying, "Ahh… broken."

Ren appeared behind her and looked like he was out of breath as we was saying, "Nora… please… don't ever do that again."

He looked around, noticing she was gone, and saw her examining one of the pieces.

When she picked it up, she started singing out, "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!" he yelled.

"Coming Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked.

"I…" Yang started again, to be interrupted by a loud screech.

Pyrrha burst into the clearing, followed by a Deathstalker.

Ruby finally jumped out of the tree she had landed in and had landed right next to Yang.

"Ruby?" she asked.

"Yang!" Ruby said, about to hug her sister.

"Nora!" Nora shouted, getting between them.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" Blake asked, getting a raised eyebrow from Silver, who had taken his sunglasses off for the moment.

Yang groaned and shouted, "I can't take it anymore! Would everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?"

Two seconds went by before Ruby tapped Yang on the shoulder and pointed up.

"Um, Yang?" Ruby said to her.

"How could you leave me?" Weiss shouted from above.

"I said jump," Ruby said.

"She's gonna fall," Blake said.

"She'll be fine," Ruby replied.

"She's falling," Ren said.

Jaune had finally recovered from his spot and grinned when he saw Weiss falling. He jumped to catch her, obviously forgetting about how gravity would affect him too and said the most cheesy line ever used, "Just… dropping in?" causing Weiss to deadpan.

Then he realized his mistake and they both dropped with Weiss landing on Jaune's back.

Pyrrha hit the ground near the group and Yang said, "Great, the gang's all here, now we can die together!"

"Not if I can help it," Ruby said before charging the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang called out.

Ruby was flying towards the Deathstalker intent on killing it, but it knocked her back with one of its gigantic claws.

She stumbled back up to her feet and said, "Don't worry! Totally fine!"

She turned around to see the Deathstalker right behind her and fired a shot to get out of its reach before folding her weapon and running back towards the group.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, running towards her.

The Nevermore that Ruby, Weiss, and Silver had hitched a ride on had circled back around and started firing its feathers at the two. One of its razor sharp feathers caught itself on Ruby's cloak and sent her to the ground. More were impaling the ground right up to Yang and she had to hit the ground and stop moving to make sure she wasn't killed. Either way, she was stuck in the middle of the feathers and Ruby was trying to release her cloak from the feather holding her back when the Deathstalker caught up to her.

"Ruby!" Yang called out as the Deathstalker was about to strike, but was blinded by her hair as something white sped past her. Ruby closed her eyes as the stinger was about to hit and heard a whooshing sound, causing her to open her eyes as she heard a voice right next to her.

"You are so childish," the voice said.

"Weiss?" Ruby said.

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And I suppose, I can be a bit… difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be… nicer." Weiss said.

"I'm not trying to show off, I want you to know that I can do this," Ruby replied.

"You're fine," Weiss said, walking away.

Ruby stood up and got a crushing hug from Yang, causing her to let out a small yelp.

"As heart warming as this all is, you guys, we have bigger issues," Rowan said, pointing his thumb back at the Nevermore that was circling back around.

"He's right, we need to grab what we need, and get back to the cliffs," Ruby said.

The Nevermore screeched and the Deathstalker was almost out of Weiss's ice when Jaune and Ruby had picked up their relics and rejoined the group.

"Time we left," Ren said.

"Right. Let's go," she said waving her arm as she led the way to the cliffs.

Yang was admiring her sister's leadership before finally following with Blake, Silver, Ash, Bai, and Rowan bringing up the rear.

They reached some ruins and finally had the cliff within sight when the Nevermore passed overhead, making the group dive for cover. Then the Deathstalker came from behind them and made them make a run for the main part of the ruins. Ren yelled for Nora to distract the Nevermore while they charged forward, ending with her shooting her grenades at it before flying away from its position. Ren and Blake blocked Nora from getting hit by the Deathstalker from behind while Weiss carried her to safety with a glyph. They were halfway across the bridge when the Nevermore rammed it and split the group. Half were on one side, fighting the Deathstalker, while the rest were fighting the Nevermore. Nora sent herself and Jaune flying over to help fight the Deathstalker, accidentally knocking Blake off, who use her ribbon to get up to the Nevermore and land some hits across its back before jumping to land next to Yang. Silver and Ash were doing their best to support the girls, while Bai and Rowan were helping with the Deathstalker.

The six people fighting the Nevermore readied their weapons as it flew straight towards their position on top of the tower. They started firing their various weapons, and in Silver's case revolver's and lightning, doing little to deter the giant bird as it flew into the tower, causing it to collapse. They all used their abilities to prevent themselves from falling into the canyon and were able to make it back up to the ground of the ruins.

"None of this is working," Weiss said to Ruby.

Ruby looked around at the others who were fighting before saying, "I have an idea! Cover me!"

The team fighting the Deathstalker had to hurry to get off of the failing platform they were standing on. Bai shot explosive arrows at the giant scorpion, to draw it forward, while Rowan took shots at the chinks in its armor. Pyrrha and Jaune kept its claws at bay while Ren ran in and climbed onto the stinger and shooting the base of it, causing it to loosen, before getting thrown into a wall.

"Ren!" Nora called.

Pyrrha threw her shield at the stinger as Jaune called it out, causing it to impale the scorpion's armor.

"Nora, nail it!" Jaune ordered.

"Heads up!" she said, making Pyrrha crouch with her shield pointing up.

Nora jumped on the shield and used a grenade to fly into the air before coming down on the stinger, killing the Deathstalker and sending everyone else flying forward onto solid ground.

Across from them, Yang and Silver were shooting the Nevermore with everything they had. It flew towards them, opening its beak to try to get Yang, but Silver unloaded a bolt of lightning into its mouth as yang held it open and started pumping her incendiary rounds down its throat. She jumped out of its mouth just before it flew into the side of the cliff and saw Weiss rushing forward and then ran off to help with Ruby's plan. Weiss froze its tail to the ground while Ash used his wrist guns to keep it from coming free of the ice. Yang and Blake used _Gambol Shroud_ to create a makeshift slingshot. Ruby jumped and caught _Crescent Rose_ on the ribbon with Weiss using a glyph to hold her in place.

"Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked.

"Hm. Can I?" Weiss responded.

"You can't?"

"Of course I can!"

After one last lightning strike from Silver, Weiss launched Ruby at the Nevermore and in a flurry of rose petals, Ruby had her scythe on the bird's neck and started running up the cliff with the help of Weiss's glyphs and the shots she was firing from her scythe. When she reached the top, she jumped and pulled the trigger one more time, decapitating the creature of Grimm. As she looked at them from the top of the cliff, Silver, Ash, Bai, and Rowan all smiled at the fact that they were able to be involved in this moment.

* * *

**Hours Later**

As the new teams were being announced, Silver couldn't help but notice the effect they were having on this world. Many things were the same as the series, but others were being changed because of their presence. Teams JNPR and RWBY had already been called up, so he knew there was only one group left to be called.

Ozpin cleared his throat after Team RWBY had left the stage and said, "And finally, we have Silver Aurelius, Ash Winters, Bai Ryder, and Rowan Chase. You four retrieved the white king pieces. From this day forward, you shall be known as Team SABR. Led by: Silver Aurelius."

Silver stared at Ozpin in shock. He had expected Ash to get the role, but when he looked to his team, they just smiled and shrugged.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year," Ozpin said, wrapping up the ceremony.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

In an abandoned warehouse, Roman Torchwick was talking on the phone. After a minute or so, he ended the call and slammed it down, looking irritably at the map of Vale in front of him. A masked soldier brought up a cart with a case of Dust on it. Roman examined the Dust for a minute before saying, "We're going to need more men."

"Well then, shall we get started?" said a teenager from the shadows. He was wearing all blue and black and had two small tomahawks with guns built into the handles hanging at his sides with what appeared to be miniature crossbows on the inside of his wrists. He smiled as Torchwick looked back at the map and simply nodded.

**Who was that strange person talking to Torchwick? What role will he play in the story? That will be touched on later.**

**(Also, from now on, I'm probably going to be cutting these chapters shorter. It just takes too much time to write, edit, and publish at the current length. On the bright side, expect more frequent updates than just once or maybe twice a week!)**


	5. The Badge

**Not much to say about this chapter. Next chapter will have an announcement or two, but for now just enjoy the story!**

"Before you judge me, make sure you're perfect."

**Chapter 5: The Badge**

**Normal POV**

Silver woke up to the sound of his phone playing one of his RWBY soundtrack songs. He was still unsure about using the music, much less the phone itself with Team RWBY so close to them, literally around the corner. He looked at the bed across the room and saw Ash just waking up so he just went to the connecting bathroom and started to get ready for the day.

Team SABR had been given two rooms, as those were the last rooms available in the non-guest dormitories. The rooms were smaller, but had adjoining bathrooms and kitchens in each, making them more like apartments. Silver finished his morning routine and went to the closet to get his uniform on. With the uniform on, he added his black and silver cloak and put the holsters for his revolvers on, he then checked each gun before holstering it.

"Hey Ash! I'm heading down to breakfast! Try not to be late!" Silver yelled as he left the room.

As he was walking down the hallway to the cafeteria, Bai and Rowan had caught up to him and were joining him for breakfast. They had to pass by Teams RWBY and JNPR's rooms to get to the cafeteria, which proved to be a problem as they had a whistle blasted into their ears from RWBY's dorm. They soon heard Ruby shouting, "Good morning, Team RWBY!"

The three shared a small laugh from that and continued on their way.

After a good breakfast, and Ash joining them, Team SABR headed off to Grimm Studies with Professor Port. They all took seats at the very top row of seats so that they would have a perfect view of the room. The class filled slowly, with the last students arriving being Teams RWBY and JNPR.

Finally, Professor Port started, "Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night! Yes the Creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha hah!"

Getting silence from the room, he continued awkwardly, "And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now, as I was saying, Vale as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces, and that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses!" he said, winking at Yang on that last part. He continued, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who can not protect themselves. From what you ask? Why, the very world!" he finished.

This time he actually got someone to respond as everyone just looked at him and then he just sat down, and stayed very quiet.

"That is what you are training to become, but first, a story! A tale of a young, handsome man, me!" he said.

Silver and the rest of his team inwardly groaned as he started his story, knowing that not much was going to be learned this class.

Silver simply observed the classroom and did some minor maintenance on his revolvers, keeping an eye on Team RWBY.

Ash just absent-mindedly slipped his blades in and out while keeping his eye on someone more specific.

Bai was just sitting in his seat, possibly sleeping, with _Twin Archers _sitting on his desk.

Rowan was getting more done than the rest of the class combined. He actually had his entire rifle disassembled in front of him. He was examining and cleaning each piece before putting it back together again, attaching a silencer, knowing what was to come later.

This went on for another 40 minutes before anything interesting happened. Seemingly out of nowhere, Weiss raised her hand and said, "I do, sir!"

"Well then, let's find out. Step forward, and face your opponent," He said.

"Could I have a couple minutes to get my combat gear sir?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, yes, go get what you need so that we can test your mettle."

A few minutes later, Weiss returned in her combat skirt, and drew her rapier, waiting for Professor Port to start the demonstration.

There were words of encouragement from where the rest of her team was sitting with Ruby saying, "Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!"

Weiss looked at Ruby and said, "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!" giving the younger girl a dejected look.

Port chopped the lock off of the cage containing Weiss's opponent and the Grimm inside charged. Weiss slashed across the side of the Grimm while moving out of its path, causing it to slow, and turn. Ruby was still shouting words of encouragement to Weiss, who was very annoyed with her, and let herself get distracted, getting disarmed and thrown across the room.

"Ho ho. Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port said.

The Boarbatusk charged and Weiss dodged, causing it to slam into a wall, disoriented. Weiss used the time to pick up her weapon and get ready for another attack.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, "Go for its belly, there's no armor underneath-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss shouted at Ruby, cutting her off.

The Boarbatusk charged again and Weiss used a glyph to block it and flip it on its back before jumping up and stabbing it in the chest, looking exhausted.

"Bravo!" Professor Port said, "Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and, stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

Weiss just gave a disproving look at Ruby and walked out of the classroom without speaking to her teammates. Ash gave Silver a look that told him all he needed to know. Silver nodded and Ash hurried out after Weiss. Silver told the other two to go back to their room and went to look for Ruby, who he knew would be with Ozpin, hopefully to instill some knowledge of his past experiences onto.

**Hope you enjoyed! Feedback and suggestions help me as I write! Follows just increase morale (Yes that is good). Thanks!**


	6. The Burden

**This is the final part for the Badge and the Burden story arc. Enjoy!**

"Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions." – Harold S. Geneen

**Chapter 6: The Burden**

**Normal POV**

Ash had held off on approaching Weiss until after she had told Ruby how she felt. Some things just had to be let out and heard. He found Weiss sitting on a bench, watching the sunset. He walked silently up to where she was sitting and sat down next to her.

"What do you want?" she said, not looking at him.

Although he already knew the answer, he just said, "I just want to know what's troubling you."

She paused before saying, "I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY."

He just stared at the sunset and sighed, and finally said, "Weiss, you aren't going to appreciate this, not right now, but I feel I should tell you this anyway…"

Silver walked calmly down the hall, letting Ozpin take his time in talking to Ruby. He planned on talking to her just before he wrapped up his small speech to her. He walked around a corner and came within earshot just as Ozpin said one of his best lines:

"Ruby, " he said, "I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet, but at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?"

Silver let out a small grin, with a small bit of hesitation. He only hoped that he had the right advice to give Ruby.

"What is it?" Weiss said, slightly curious now.

"This is a story of the sorts of things that can happen when jealousy overshadows a mind that thinks of the teams well-being instead of their own," he said.

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He laughed, but his eyes told her all she needed to know. He was serious.

She sighed. "Alright, what's the story?"

"This is a story of Silver, Rowan, and I, and our experiences within a certain organization that helps to develop young leaders.

"Ruby, I agree with Ozpin. Your appointment to leader has not been a mistake so far, and I seriously doubt it ever will be," Silver said, "I have seen many others in your position, in fact, I was once in a position much like yours."

Ruby looked at Silver curiously at implications of this comment.

"Weiss, being the older and the more skillful does not guarantee good leadership," Ash said.

She opened her mouth to protest, but Ash stopped her with his hand and a soft, but firm look.

"Silver, Rowan, and I were always among the best in our particular group, and we, like you, always wanted to be among the leadership. However, there will always be a time when you must follow the one being more capable of being a leader. You may think that being a leader is about being the boss and taking much of the credit for the work your team did, but its so much more than that."

"What more could there possibly be?" she asked, "I've read all about how a leader should act and how to get my teammates to do what I want them to!"

Ash sighed and gave her a small, sad smile, saying, "And how will you be able to lead them effectively if you barely make any attempts to get to know them?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I mean exactly what I said. I was once in a position much like yours," Silver said.

"How so?"

"While I wasn't the leader of a team of armed warriors, I was a leader none the less," he started, "When I was 13, I was made a leader of a group of guys that were all older than me. It was hard at first; I had to endure the fact that they were so much more experienced in every activity. But do you know what I did Ruby?"

Ruby shook her head no.

"I used that experience to my advantage," he said.

"But how?" she said.

"I got to know them Ruby. I found out their strengths and weaknesses and compared them to each other's and mine. I was able to make a team that was one of the best not because of an experienced leader, but one that asked for help from his team. I worked hard to get us to where we were, and I have no regrets."

"But I don't understand, what does this have to do with Ruby being team leader instead of me?" Weiss asked.

"Think for a moment Weiss, I know you're smart, why do you think Ruby was made leader?" Ash said.

Getting a blank stare, Ash continued, "Silver, Rowan, and I, while we had a large amount of time in leadership roles, also had to be a follower every so often. We learned after a while that the leaders who were younger than us sometimes had it easier getting to know us. They saw things that we sometimes didn't. Their new perspective gave us something to learn from, and made us better with it. In my experience, some of the best leaders are those who never wanted the position at all. Think about that, and then think about Ruby's reaction to being made a leader and all of her actions to follow."

A look of realization crossed the girl's face as he said those words.

"Savor your team Weiss, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be," he finished, knowing that he had just paraphrased what Professor Port would have said.

As he got up and walked away, he said, "And if you and your team feel up to it after your apology," he looked her straight in the eye and smiled," Team SABR is accepting challenges."

With that, he pulled up his hood and walked back to his dorm room.

Ozpin finished his and Silver's chat with Ruby by saying," Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you are not always performing at your best, then what reason do you give others to follow you? You have been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you take some time, to think about how you will uphold it." He then turned, and walked away, leaving Ruby with a depressed look.

"Think about what I said, Ruby, and remember, being a leader isn't something you simply learn how to do, it's a learning experience, every great leader started at the bottom and gained experience, and you are one of the few who has a natural ability for it without any experience," Silver said, and walked to rejoin Ash, who had just finished talking to Weiss.

"So how did your little talk go with Weiss?" Silver asked, catching up to Ash.

"About as well as expected," replied Ash.

"That's good. What'd you tell her?"

"A small piece of information about us in the troop," said Ash.

"Huh, I told Ruby about my first time as a leader in the troop," said Silver.

"Almost as if we planned it, let's hope they don't figure that out, don't want them getting the wrong idea."

"So, have you thought about next week at all?" Silver asked.

Ash grinned. "Of course I have. I'm thinking we ask RWBY and JNPR to help."

"Good. Now we just have to start planning."

Later that night, Weiss walked into her dorm room and saw everyone else asleep, except there was a light on underneath the veil covering of Ruby's bed. She walked over and found Ruby, having fallen asleep while finishing studying. She was shocked. This was not what she had expected Ruby to be doing this late. She tapped the younger girl on the shoulder, waking her up.

As Ruby's vision cleared she realized who had woken her up and quickly tried to explain, "Weiss! I was studying, and then I fell asleep, I'm sorry-"

She was cut off when Weiss put a hand to her mouth and noticed an empty coffee mug on the bed.

"How do you take your coffee?" Weiss asked.

"Uh… I don't…"

"Answer the question."

"Cream and five sugars!" Ruby burst out.

Weiss sighed and said," Don't move".

She then came back to a confused looking Ruby and said, "Here," handing her the cup.

"Uh, thanks Weiss," Ruby said, confused, but still grateful.

Weiss looked away for a moment and said, "Ruby… I think you have what it takes to be a good leader..." She then smiled before continuing, "Just know, that I am going to be the best teammate, you will ever have! Good luck studying!" She went down from Ruby's bunk before coming right back up, pointing at one of Ruby's answers, and saying, "That's wrong by the way."

As she was leaving to get ready for bed, Weiss said, "Hey Ruby?"

"Uh huh?"

"I always wanted bunk beds as a kid," she said, closing the door to the bathroom.

Ruby returned to her studying and smiled, knowing that her team was going to be able to work together now.

**So, now that this is all wrapped up, I will have a very SPECIAL chapter being released Sunday!**

**And remember, Feedback is always welcome!**


	7. A Special Surprise

**This is a special shout out to the guy who made the character Rowan Chase possible. Happy Birthday bro.**

"Don't just count your years, make your years count." –George Meredith

* * *

**Chapter 7: A Special Surprise**

**Normal POV**

Silver woke up slowly that particular morning. He was still recovering from his little run-in with an alternate universe team from Beacon Academy and his head still hurt sometimes. He was going to have to have a serious conversation about the intel he received on missions before they took them. That didn't matter now; he had a far more pressing issue to attend to. He quickly got up and dressed in his normal clothes and woke up Ash, who did the same. They left their room to find Bai waiting for them outside.

"He still asleep?" Silver asked.

"Still out. I think that he'll be another hour or so," Bai replied.

"Good. That gives us plenty of time. Speaking of which, we should get going," Ash said, looking at the time.

The three headed to Professor Port's classroom, where they had gotten permission to throw a party for their teammate. Today was his birthday, and they wanted to give him a big surprise, but they couldn't do it alone. That's why Silver contacted Teams RWBY and JNPR to ask them for help. They saw Team SABR as close friends, so they agreed. They had agreed to meet in the party room to discuss the preparations for the party later that day. The three boys walked into the room to find they were the last one's there; the other teams were standing around, talking as they waited for the meeting to start. Upon them entering, the two teams turned to look at them.

Jaune looked a little disheveled from the early morning and his armor was a bit off, but Silver was sure that Pyrrha plus a cup of coffee would fix that.

Nora looked like her normal, hyperactive self; save for the fact she was moving just a little bit slower than normal.

Pyrrha looked wide-awake and attentive as usual. She didn't seem off in any way from the early morning.

Ren didn't really look all that different either except for the small, almost unnoticeable wrinkles in his outfit. It could be hard to tell with him.

Ruby looked just a little tired, her hair messed up in a way that suggested that she had only just rolled out of bed.

Weiss looked more irritated than normal this early in the morning. Her usual ponytail being a little crooked, but was more than likely to be fixed later.

Blake seemed to be the most alert out of her team, but still seemed a little bit drowsy in her appearance, but Silver couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Yang was definitely the worst off out of the entire group. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she could pass out at any moment.

They all gathered around the table that was meant to be used for the party later.

"Alright guys, I believe you all know why we gathered you here so early in the morning?" Ash said, getting nods from around the table.

"We're here to celebrate the birthday of one of our closest friends. Many know him as the 'unseen sniper', we know him as Rowan Chase, and we are here to help him have one of the greatest birthdays that he has ever had," Silver said.

"That said, let's get down to business. We need your help to set this up well, and make sure he doesn't catch us in the act," Bai said.

"We have a list of things that need to be done for tonight. Has everyone ordered their gifts?" Ash asked, receiving nods from around the room.

"Team JNPR, you're in charge of food. We got permission from Ozpin to use the kitchens so getting the food ready shouldn't be a problem." Silver told them.

"You can count on us," Jaune said, him and his team smiling.

"Weiss, you're with me, we're going to go into Vale to pick up everyone's orders," Ash told her.

"Blake, Yang, Bai, and I will be in charge of decorating the room for tonight," Silver said.

"What am I supposed to be doing?" Ruby asked Silver, wanting to be able to help somehow.

Silver chuckled before saying, "You, Ruby, have the most important, and possibly one of the hardest jobs. You are going to be in charge of keeping Rowan busy while we get everything ready."

Her silver eyes widened in shock and she asked, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Take him anywhere away from where we are going to be. Take him to the workshop and help him make some adjustments to his weapon, have a sparring match with him, maybe go into Vale and see a movie. I hear 'Atlesian Sniper' is pretty good. Go out to lunch, go to the beach, just keep him entertained and away from us." Silver said.

"Yeah, but if you do go into Vale, just make sure to check-in with me and Weiss so that we can avoid you and Rowan," Ash said, "That way, he won't get suspicious of you for dragging him in some random direction for no apparent reason."

The girl nodded and Ash noticed Yang glaring at Silver for some reason, but he shrugged it off, it was probably nothing.

"Ruby, Rowan should be awake in half an hour, so be there in 15 minutes to wake him up. Take these," Bai said, handing her the whistle she had used previously to wake up her teammates and a can of silly string, with a large smile.

She just laughed nervously.

"Now that everyone has their assignments, let's go get breakfast," Ash said.

* * *

**With Rowan**

Rowan woke with a start, falling out of his bed from the shock of a whistle going off right next to him. Before he could say or do anything, he had a face full of what could only be silly string. Then he heard that one of a kind voice that could only be Ruby shouting:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROWAN!"

He just groaned and let his head hit the floor. Leave it to Ruby to sneak into his room after Bai had left and wish him a happy birthday in the most outrageous way possible.

"Thanks Ruby, but how exactly did you get in here?" he asked her.

"Your door was left unlocked, I thought I was going to have to pick it somehow, but I found it unlocked," she told him, shamelessly.

He was going to have a long talk with Bai later on locking the door when he left the room.

"So what exactly are you doing here Ruby? Outside of blowing out my eardrums and giving me a face full of silly string I mean."

"I just came to wish you a happy birthday," she said innocently.

He just raised an eyebrow at that statement.

She broke and said, "Okay, so I wanted to see if you needed any help with making adjustments to your weapon in the workshop and if you wanted to spar with me later."

"You could have just asked Ruby, you didn't have to be so casual," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, come on let's go!" she said, getting very excited and running out the door, before coming back and saying, "Are you coming or what?"

"Uh, Ruby?"

"Yeah Rowan?"

"Could I maybe get into something other than my pajamas?" he asked.

Ruby went very, very red and just stuttered an apology before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Rowan shook his head before starting to get dressed, this was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

**With Ash**

Ash and Weiss got off of the airship in Vale and started heading toward the shopping center where most of the gifts would be picked up. Ash had reviewed the items on the list from each person and was relieved to see that none of them were weird. He was especially relieved when he saw what Yang's gift was, glad it wasn't something that would be at a weird place.

"So where should we go first?" he asked Weiss.

"We might as well go to the Schnee Dust Company office to have them start moving the cases of Dust over to Beacon. It may take a while." She said.

"Let's go then. We have a lot of stuff to pick up and not a whole lot of time."

* * *

**With Silver**

All things considered, everything was going great with the setup at Beacon. Silver and Blake had managed to get a red and black banner that said, 'Happy Birthday Rowan!' and hang it over the center of the room, in immediate view of the doorway. Yang and Bai were able to get ahold of some speakers to play music and were in the middle of getting everything wired. Team JNPR had managed to get much of the food ready for that night, but still had a lot to do if they were going to be feeding around twelve people. As long as Ruby did her job well, they would be able to surprise Rowan.

* * *

**With Rowan**

Rowan clenched his teeth as he dodged another slash from Ruby. He activated his semblance as he ran, allowing him to take his time with his next shot, or that would have been true if Ruby hadn't also activated he semblance and started running around with her scythe slashing everywhere, trying to find his location. He switched magazines from normal to ice and started firing in front of the red blur that was Ruby. She managed to dodge most of the shots, but was soon starting to take hits as he anticipated her movements around the eruptions of ice. He took notice of his aura level, and deactivated his semblance, reappearing behind her, and firing another shot, only to see her vanish in a cloud of rose petals. He looked around to see where she might have gone before feeling the cool barrel of Ruby's rifle against his back.

He was just reaching for his sword when he heard Ruby cock the rifle and say, "Don't even think about it."

He dropped his rifle and raised his hands in defeat, ending the match.

"You almost had me that time Rowan," Ruby said cheerfully.

"How did you even sneak up on me like that?" Rowan asked, picking his rifle back up.

"When you have Blake on your team, you're bound to pick up a few of the basics of stealth," she replied.

"Well now that we're both exhausted, you want to go grab some lunch and then head into Vale?" he asked.

"Sure! I hear 'Atlesian Sniper' is a good movie, why don't we go see that?" She asked him.

"Sounds good. Now let's go eat. Movie theater food is always expensive."

* * *

**With Ash**

Ash's Scroll beeped as they were walking into another store to pick up Jaune and Pyrrha's gift. He stared at the message for a moment before gaining a look of panic.

"Weiss, we have to grab this gift and go. Ruby and Rowan are coming in this direction."

They quickly went to the order pick up line and got the gift before hurriedly leaving the store to go to the next, one far away from where Ruby and Rowan were going to be.

* * *

**Two hours later**

Rowan stretched as he and Ruby left the theater, he saw the sun was coming close to setting and suggested that they start heading back to Beacon. She agreed and pulled out her Scroll, going through a list of some sort.

Ruby was actually messaging Ash and Silver to make sure it was okay to go back to Beacon.

Ruby: _We're heading back, are you guys ready?_

Silver: _We just finished with the decorations and JNPR just walked in with the food so the room is ready._

Ash:_ Weiss and I are on our way back. We should be there in about 5 minutes._

Silver: _Okay, I'll have Bai and Yang go to the landing dock to help you carry the stuff._

Ruby:_ Am I good to come back then?_

Silver: _Come on back Ruby, we'll be ready by the time you get here._

Ruby put away her Scroll and walked with Rowan back to the airships.

When they finally took their seats on the airship, Rowan put his arm around Ruby and said, "Thanks for the amazing day Ruby."

She blushed a little bit and just managed to say in a small voice, "You're welcome."

And so they sat that way for the duration of the flight back to Beacon and when they finally arrived, Rowan was just barely able to get Ruby off of him, as she had fallen asleep and was leaning against him. He woke her up and they proceeded into the Beacon courtyard.

Ruby suddenly stiffened up and said, "Oh, I almost forgot! I was going to go talk to Professor Port about a question on the homework he gave us yesterday. Could you come with me real quick to his classroom? I promise it won't take long."

She gave him her puppy dog eyes and it suddenly became impossible to refuse.

"Alright, alright, you win. I'll go there with you." Rowan said.

Ruby cheered and then started dragging him along towards Professor Port's classroom.

* * *

**With Silver**

"Places everyone! They're going to be here soon!" Silver said, "Blake, any sign of them?"

"Not ye- Wait! Here they come now!" she exclaimed, closing the door and jumping to her spot.

"Here we go…" Silver whispered for everyone to hear.

* * *

**With Rowan**

"_Why is she in such a hurry?"_ Rowan wondered.

Ruby had been dragging him along at an impressive speed and she wasn't even using her semblance yet. He saw Port's classroom up ahead and heard the door close, which only meant that Port was just getting back in there. They were at the door now and Ruby was opening the door, still practically dragging him behind her when he heard a large yell come from inside.

"Happy Birthday, Rowan!"

He looked around the room and saw his team along with Team JNPR and the rest of RWBY.

He smiled at his friends and said, "When did you do all this?"

Silver smirked. "We've been doing this all day. We needed a way to keep you off of us, so we sent the one person who could perform that job effectively, and that was Ruby," he said, sending a wink at Rowan that only he saw.

"Speaking of which," Yang said, "what did you and Ruby do all day?" Her voice was casual, but the underlying question was still there, causing Blake to step in to calm Yang down a bit.

"Yang," she said, "We'll find out about that later. For now, let's enjoy him not being a streak of red on the wall."

Ruby and Rowan both laughed nervously, both glowing a bright red, not really wanting to talk about their day anymore.

Breaking the silence, Pyrrha stepped in to relieve the tension and said, "Let's not just stand here, we spent all day cooking! Let's eat!"

Placing Rowan at the head of the table, with Ruby on his right, and Silver on his left, Team JNPR revealed the contents of the various plates and platters that were scattered across the table. There were many kinds of food on the table, making sure no one had to eat something they didn't like. The food was so good that the rest of the group started joking about JNPR opening their own restaurant.

As everyone settled in and had filled their plates, presents started getting passed over to Rowan.

First was Silver's present. When he opened it up and realized what it was, Rowan had to work hard to hide just how excited he was about the present. Silver had gotten him a new pair of glasses to upgrade from his current sniper's eyewear. Not only were they more stable as glasses, but they also performed the same calculations as his other one, at twice the speed. He thanked Silver for his gift and moved to the next.

Ash had gotten him a black, wide-brimmed fedora that had a red ring going around it with an eagle feather sticking out of the ring.

Bai had ordered a special serrated combat knife for Rowan with a sheath that could be attached to his boot.

Ruby had been told by Ash that Rowan liked music, so she had gone out and bought him custom headphones with his personal symbol on the sides, earning her a hug from him for the special thought she had given.

Weiss had ordered a few cases of Dust for Rowan, making it unlikely that he would run short for a couple months.

Blake had ordered him a book titled, 'Famous Battle Tactics Throughout History', and was given a strong thank you for the gift, as he was very interested in the strategies of Remnant.

Yang had ordered him a new motorcycle helmet that had a red tinted, reflective visor and a matte black color.

Jaune and Pyrrha had gotten a new weapon cleaning kit for him. He thanked them for the extremely practical gift, as he had pretty much exhausted his cleaning supply a few days ago.

Finally, Ren and Nora had bought him a red and black satchel to carry his weapon in, as carrying a rifle over your shoulder constantly isn't all that fun.

After all the gifts had been opened, and thanks had been distributed, Ren went to the back of the room and brought out a cart, which held a very long platter. Everyone, save for Team JNPR, set their gaze on it, wondering what it could possibly be.

They all gasped as he revealed what was on the cart. Team JNPR had somehow managed to make a highly detailed replica cake of Rowan's sniper rifle, _Mantle's Edge_.

"Where did you get the measurements to make that?" Rowan asked.

"You're a fairly heavy sleeper, it wasn't hard to take the rifle and spend a few minutes measuring its dimensions for them," Bai said, smiling.

They sang a quick chorus of 'Happy Birthday' and ate their way through the rifle cake.

After the cake was eaten, everyone pitched in to help collect dishes, take down decorations, and pick up trash that was left lying around.

Once everything was put away, and the dishes had been taken back to the kitchen, all three teams started heading back to their dorm rooms. It wasn't until they were at their dorms that they realized that Ruby and Rowan were both missing.

**I probably had too much fun writing this. Doesn't matter much now as by the time this come out, I will either be somewhat injured, or Rowan will have shot me in the head.**

**Rowan: "You're darn right I'm going to shoot you!"**

**Either way, it was worth it.**

**Happy Birthday Rowan!**


	8. Reconnaissance

**So this chapter came out a little later than expected and went longer than I had hoped. I just couldn't find a good place to cut it off. Whatever, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"It is not a question of can or can't… in life there are some things you just do."

**Chapter 8: Reconnaissance**

**Rowan's POV**

I was in the workshop, sitting at one of the many workbenches with my sniper rifle disassembled in front of me. I was currently trying to reduce the recoil on it while maintaining the same amount of power. I replaced a couple of pieces and reassembled the rifle before walking over to the test range. I took aim at the target, which was about 50 meters out, child's play for me, and took a shot. I felt the rifle kick back a little harder than I wanted and saw the flaming piece of paper. I checked the magazine in confusion and saw that I had accidentally used Dust ammunition. Even though Weiss gave me a large supply of Dust, I wanted to conserve it as much as possible. I switched back to a normal ammo clip and aimed at another target at the same distance, and fired. I saw that the paper now had a hole the size of the top of a soda can in the center of it. Somewhat satisfied, I went back to the workbench and continued working on reducing the recoil.

I had been working for another hour or so, getting varied results, from not enough power to too much recoil, when I heard the door open behind me. I ignored it and continued working, thinking it was just another student coming in to work on their weapon. I was about to pick up another tool to adjust the stock of the gun a little bit when I saw a flash of black and red.

I tensed and thought, _"Oh crap,"_ before bracing as I was tackled to the ground from the side.

Me and the other person rolled for a few feet before stopping and I heard a very familiar voice say, "Hey Rowan, Whatcha doing?"

I looked up at the person on top of me and saw none other than Ruby Rose. I sighed a little. She and I had become close friends a couple of weeks ago after our little, ah, "excursion" away from our teams the night of my birthday. To say they weren't happy about us getting back to our dorms until just after midnight would be an understatement. If Ruby hadn't been nearby when Yang confronted me about it… I shuddered at the thought.

I finally said, "Just making some adjustments to my rifle. I'm trying to cut down the recoil as much as possible."

"Cool! Can I see?" she asked, obviously excited about seeing my weapon's new modifications.

"Sure, but could you maybe get off of me? I kind of need to get up to get to it," I said.

She turned a slight red and quickly started to make apologies, but I just held my hand up and said it was fine, smiling at her. I went back to the workbench, reassembled my rifle, and took it over to the test range. I readjusted my glasses before taking aim at a target. This time, when I fired there was only a small amount of recoil and a hole that took up most of the page. I turned and saw Ruby staring in awe.

After she recovered from her shock, she asked, "How did you do that? What kind of Dust ammo did you use?"

"Those were normal rounds," I replied.

She stared at me in disbelief and said, "No way…"

I cracked a smile. "You have the massive recoil to help you use your scythe, I have no recoil and a larger hole. I'd say that's fair since I don't have a bullet propelled blade."

She thought about this and just shrugged, "I suppose."

"So, want to go get some lunch?" I said as I heard two beeps. One came from my Scroll, the other from Ruby's.

We simultaneously looked at our Scrolls, reading the message and seeing who it was from, we looked at each other and knew we were going to the same place.

We rushed out the door to Professor Ozpin's office to find out more about his urgent message.

* * *

Ten minutes later, we had arrived outside Ozpin's office and knocked. We were given permission to enter and saw that we weren't the only ones called to meet him.

Standing right in front of the headmaster's desk was Ruby's sister, Yang, who was giving me a death glare, for a reason I could very easily guess at. Off to the side, leaning against the wall, was Bai, calm and collected as ever.

Seeing us come in, Ozpin cleared his throat, putting his cup of coffee down on the glass surface of his desk, and said, "Now that you are all here, I suggest that we begin. There is much to discuss."

Bai and I looked at each other, bewildered. What could be happening that required two teams? And where were Silver, Ash, Weiss, and Blake?

I spoke up first, saying, "What do you need? And where are the rest of our team mates?" He got similar looks of confusion from the others in the room.

"They are on another mission that may require their more specific skill sets, just as this mission requires skills more aligned with your own," he explained, still getting confused looks from the four teens.

"I still don't understand why you split the teams. I thought we were supposed to perform missions to the best of our ability in our own teams," Yang said.

"Normally, yes, that would be the case, but I needed to make sure that these missions would be handled properly. So I entrusted them to the combined forces of RWBY and SABR," Ozpin replied, "It is not a lack of confidence, Miss Xiao Long, simply insurance, the stakes are too high for at least one of the missions assigned to your teams. That mission is currently in progress and seems to have had very few complications so far, which brings me to your mission."

We all centered our attention on him, making sure not to miss a single detail. He informed us that there had been reports of increased criminal activity in Northern Vale, namely Dust robberies, and that a mysterious "shadow" figure had been reported to be covering the escape of whoever was committing the robberies.

I narrowed my eyes at this, and asked, "Are you saying that this person has a semblance that is the exact opposite of Bai's?"

He looked at me over his glasses with his piercing brown eyes and said, "We do not have a confirmation of his full capabilities just yet, but it would be a safe guess."

I nodded at this and exchanged a quick look with Bai. We were nervous about what the headmaster was implying with his explanation.

"And what would you like us to do sir?" Yang asked in a very even tone, not betraying any nervousness or fear that may or may not have been there.

Ozpin stared into his coffee cup for what seemed like an eternity, then, he finally looked each one of us in the eye and said, "I need you four to track this person down and help bring him in."

The pressure in the room seemed to skyrocket at those words. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable standing inside the office.

"Are you sure that we're qualified for that?" Ruby asked tentatively.

He smiled a tiny bit and said, "Completely, evidence shows that he's only been fighting for a few months."

Alarm bells were now going off in my head and I could tell from his expression that Bai was now on alert as well. What Ozpin was implying seemed to be intended for Bai and me alone. We quickly got ourselves back under control so as not to draw suspicion from Yang and Ruby.

"Any idea where we should start?" Bai asked.

"There are a few abandoned warehouses at the very edge of Northern Vale that would be a good starting point. I suggest that you start heading over to the garage, your vehicles have all been fueled up, and you have work to do," he said.

We thanked Ozpin for the fuel and assured him that we would do our best to complete our mission and then made our way to the student garage at the edge of campus.

* * *

When we arrived at the garage, we immediately went to check our vehicles. The garage was fairly standard for being underground. It had about three different levels going down with a few areas that had tools should we need to do some maintenance on our vehicles. All four of us in Team SABR had motorcycles, due to the nature of the missions that we took from Ozpin from time to time. Silver and Ash had taken their bikes out on their mission, so Bai and I had a little bit more room to check our bikes, _White Onyx_ and _Fire Hawk_, before we hit the road. Bai's bike was white with two black stripes going across each side, while mine was red with a black flame design going along the bottom. When Bai finished his checks, he put on his helmet, which was white with a black tinted visor. He then pulled his bike out of the parking spot and waited for Yang and I to finish. When Yang had finished, she put her aviators and yellow and black helmet on and handed Ruby her helmet just as I finished my checks and was pulling out of my spot. Ruby exchanged a look with her sister before receiving a grudging shrug and walked over and got on the back of my bike. I flipped my visor open and looked at the girl, who just smiled and flipped the black visor of her dark red helmet down. I shook my head and started the engine. Bai led the way out of the garage with Ruby and I in the middle and Yang in the back. I could practically feel Yang's angry stare on my back and was getting worried that she may deck me once we got to our destination. This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

We arrived at the first abandoned warehouse about half an hour later. It was roughly the size of a football field, and looked like it hadn't been used in years. We got our weapons ready and went inside, prepared for anything. After another half hour of searching the place, finding only rusty tools and empty boxes, we concluded that there wasn't anyone here. We then proceeded to the next warehouse and yet again found nothing. This continued for a few hours, until finally, just after sunset, we found signs of activity.

There were somewhat fresh tire marks leading up to the door, which had a new lock on it. We broke the lock and lifted the door to an extraordinary sight. There were rows of stacks of containers of Dust three high. They seemed to go for at least half of the length of the warehouse and could have contained any amount of Dust, and God knows what type. We walked down the central aisle, weapons at the ready, searching for any guards or others that might be there. At the end of the aisle, we found nothing but an empty space that took up the other half of the warehouse. Seeing nothing of interest, we were about to head back to our vehicles when a voice said from the darkness, "So… you finally came."

I looked around for whoever had spoken, but saw nothing in the shadows. Suddenly, a flash of movement caught my eye, and I saw someone jump from the rafters above us.

He landed in a crouched position and stood with his back to us, revealing a white omega symbol with blue flames going along the top on the back of his vest jacket. He had a dark blue shirt with long grey sleeves under his black vest jacket, which had a white line going across the chest with a dark hood attached to it. He wore dark jeans and solid black sneakers. Hanging on either side of his belt were two identical tomahawks, which had black, triangular blades that had openings that looked like hand holds where he could hold them by the top of the blade. The blade was rounded at one side for maximum damage potential when used.

His hood was up, hiding his face, but something seemed familiar about him, which was weird, because I couldn't remember anyone like him being in the show.

"Who are you?" Bai yelled, clearly drawing the same conclusions I was.

The figure's shoulders slumped theatrically, and he said, "Wow man! You really forgot all about me? And after you forgot to invite me to come with you too!"

My eyes widened, my heart stopping cold, and faster than anyone could blink, I had drawn my rifle and taken a shot, knocking the figure's hood off, revealing black, medium-length hair and dark blue eyes.

He didn't seem the slightest bit shocked at the sudden shot, if anything, he smiled a little wider.

"So it is you…" I said, "Mind telling us what you're doing here, Indigo?"

This was Indigo Cole, old friend and also someone who should not be here.

Bai was just as shocked as I was. He was gripping his swords very tightly now.

Ruby and Yang just looked between us in confusion before Ruby asked, "Um… do you guys know each other?"

"Let's just say that he's an old friend that we didn't think we would be seeing ever again," Bai said.

"Oh, " she said and took a step forward, saying, "Hello there! Have you seen any thieves around here by any chance?"

"Ruby," I said, eyeing Indigo as his hand had twitched in the direction of one of his tomahawks.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You need to back away from him, slowly," I said, keeping my voice as even as possible.

She looked confused. "But I thought you guys said you were friends…"

"We said we were 'old friends' Ruby. But the circumstances have changed with us being here with him," I said.

"But what about the guy we were… tracking…" she said, realization dawning, she quickly backed up.

Now that that was cleared up, I asked Indigo, "So what are you doing here, Indigo?"

He just smiled, and said, "Oh I'm just here to tie up a few loose ends."

The way he said that sent my senses into overdrive and my heart was pounding very hard now.

"Ruby, Yang," I whispered, "Get back to the bikes right now."

They looked at me with confused expressions.

"Just do it! Me and Bai will hold him off, you two need to get out of here and get to Ozpin," I said, a little more urgently this time.

They suddenly got very worried and outraged expressions, saying, "No!" and "We won't leave you two!"

"There isn't time to argue! The longer all of us stand here, the longer he has to take us out, and erase any chance we have of getting this information to Ozpin!"

They kept their worried expressions, but nodded. As Ruby was walking away, I heard her say, "If you don't come back, I won't forgive you."

I turned in her direction and smiled, saying, "Well it's a good thing I plan on coming back isn't it?"

She looked at me and giggled a little bit, and said, "You better come back, you hothead, I still need my sparring partner for when Weiss isn't around." She then turned and ran after Yang, leaving me to return my smile to a frown of regret.

I turned back to Indigo and stepped up next to Bai. "You ready?" I asked him.

He responded by forming his bow and taking aim, while I took aim with my sniper. Indigo drew his tomahawks and took a fighting stance.

"Let's go," he said, and disappeared into the shadows, literally.

I stood there for a moment, shocked, before yelling, "Bai, Lighthouse!"

Bai quickly used his semblance and let loose a blast of blinding white light. I closed my eyes so that I wasn't blinded, and heard a grunt of pain a few yards away. I looked over and saw Indigo on the ground, stunned. I started to walk over to knock him out when he suddenly flipped his tomahawks around, gripping them on the inside of the blade. I figured out what he was doing just in time to dive to the side just before the shots rang out. I quickly took aim and fired a shot, knocking him back, and putting a serious dent in his aura.

He growled and disappeared into the shadows again, only to reappear behind Bai to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head, knocking him out, and disappearing again. I cursed, Bai's aura level had dropped severely from that flash of light, and Indigo had taken advantage of that. I saw a shadow moving towards me along the ground at a quick pace and drew my sword, turning it invisible, and struck downward just as the shadow reached me.

Indigo wasn't expecting that, so he was once again thrown out of the shadows. He groaned in frustration, and then I felt a strange pressure as I looked at him and saw that his eyes now had a purple tinge to them.

"That's a nice trick you got there, Rowan, shame it won't be working a second time," he said as he charged, wreathed in shadows, faster than ever.

I held my sword up to block, but just as he was about to strike, he vanished. I looked up confused, before being sent across the room from a blow to the back.

I turned over, still holding my sword, and saw my rifle still on the ground back where I was standing.

Indigo appeared in front of me in a swirl of shadows, blades at my throat, smirking, and said, "Give up yet?"

I spat some blood onto his shoe in defiance and said, "Not done yet. I've still got some fight left-"

I was cut off as he picked me up by the throat and said, "And what could you possibly do to stop me?"

I smiled and said, "I could do this," and brought my sword up and struck him, hard, in the side.

It was his turn to spit blood. He glared at me with his glowing purple eyes and said, "That was your last mistake."

He charged forward, even faster now, he would have given Silver a run for his money. He threw me across the room and into a wall, before I could even touch the ground, he had thrown me into another wall, and then grabbing my head, he pounded me into the ground, almost knocking me out.

My vision started to blur as he appeared next to me and brought his arm back for the final blow.

"_Sorry guys, guess we really couldn't beat him by ourselves,"_ I thought.

The final thought in my mind before I closed my eyes in preparation of the inevitable blow to come was, _"Sorry Ruby…"_

Just as I finished the thought, I felt a surge of energy like never before. My eyes flew open and I met Indigo's gaze and he actually backed off a little bit. He recovered and quickly brought down the strike, but I lifted my hand and caught it. I then pushed back, making him stumble back a few feet, giving me a chance to regroup. I felt energy surge through my body and then an idea about this new found power occurred to me. I concentrated some of the power into my hand and a ball of fire appeared.

I smiled and said, "That's more like it."

I made a fist and the fire covered it, doing no damage to me. I then tried my legs, and then my entire body, getting the results I wanted, I let the flames die down, for now, and walked over to Indigo.

"Do you give up yet?" I mocked.

"I don't know what happened, but you aren't going to get so lucky this time," he replied, forming shadows around him.

"We'll see," I said, reactivating the flames.

We stared each other down, both knowing this was going to determine who won this fight. He took a step and then he had suddenly covered half the distance between us. I sidestepped and punched him in the gut then threw him back. He drew his tomahawks again while I picked up my sword. We charged and then we were exchanging blows until we were practically balls of fire and shadows flying around colliding and trying to knock the other out.

We both landed and prepared for what had to be the final attack. We both ran forward and met, our elements struggling for dominance while we were clashing our blades. After what seemed like a minute, we both jumped back again and waited. I was affected first, feeling every blow he had managed to land, but was still somehow able to stay standing. He didn't fair as well. Indigo was collapsed on the ground; barely conscious from all the hits he had taken.

All he was able to do was say, "You win this time, Rowan," before he disappeared in a whirl of shadows.

The last thing I saw before passing out was a few sets of headlights coming from the door and a red-hooded figure running towards me, and although I couldn't hear them, seemed to be yelling at me. When my head hit the ground, everything went black.

* * *

**So, that was a thing to write. What do you think of the sub-semblances? Don't worry, they'll be explained a little bit later. But I really want to know is, what do you think of the RubyXRowan ship? Or going back a little bit, the WeissXAsh ship? Please leave a review and follow, it really helps helps me out.**

**Rowan: And this is the part where Ash and I kill you.**

**Ash: I'm not really appreciating how much fun you're having with writing these ships.**

**SoA: Goodbye my readers! There are going to be some serious "negotiations" going on behind the scenes here, so the next update may not be here for a little while.**


	9. ANNOUNCEMENT

**I know many of you have been wondering when the next chapter will be coming out. I am sure that you will view this announcement as a waste of time to read as you were hoping for the next piece of the puzzle. **

**Do not worry! The next chapter is in the works and will be out within the next week. Why a week you ask? It's because I've been busy with school and setting up the incoming characters. That didn't take too long to do, but there is something even bigger I would like to announce!**

**Me and one of my friends will be working on a story parallel to this one. I will provide details on this at a later time.**

**Second, I'm currently working on a series that will fall in line with the characters, but will have NO SIGNIFICANCE to the story itself. It will be a place where I post ideas I have in my head and just need to vent the ideas to make room for new ones. I repeat: THERE WILL BE NO REFERENCE OF THIS SERIES IN THE MAIN STORY! DO NOT EXPECT THERE TO BE ANY CONTINUITY WITH THAT STORY! IT WILL ESSENTIALLY BE A BUNCH OF ONE-SHOTS.**

**Thank you,**

**ShadowofAxios**


	10. A Discovery

**I'm sure you've all heard about Mr. Monty Oum being hospitalized, I extend my best wishes to him and hope he makes a full recovery, as this story would not be possible without his genius. Mr. Oum, I salute you.**

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you're doing the impossible. –Francis of Assisi

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Discovery**

**Silver's POV**

We were on the highway leading away from Beacon, Ash and I were on our motor cycles, Blake and Weiss riding as passengers. My bike was black with silver racing stripes going down the sides. It was dubbed _Silver Storm_. Blake was my passenger, wearing the spare generic black helmet I always kept in the storage compartment and my helmet was black with a gold visor and a ring of silver going around the base. Ash's bike was a dark grey with white arched lines went down the sides and was named _Winter's Shadow_. His helmet was grey with a single white stripe going down the center and a black visor, while his passenger, Weiss, wore his spare white helmet, which had a grey stripe going down the center and a white visor.

We were on our way to investigate an energy signal similar to the one that indicated our arrival on Remnant, and Ozpin wanted us to make sure we got whoever, or whatever, it was before someone else did. He had told us we would have to present his certification upon arriving as he had contacted the police and asked them to set up a two-block radius perimeter around the signature. I was really hoping that no one actually came through, but I was also hoping that if anyone did, we actually knew the person.

Ozpin had said something about the rest of our team mates being sent on another mission later that day, and that we shouldn't worry about leaving them behind. I really hoped that they really could handle who ever it was they had been sent after. I had hacked Ozpin's Scroll to see what their mission was, and saw just how dangerous that guy was, so to say I wasn't a little worried would be a lie.

When we reached the perimeter line, we stopped our bikes a few yards away and dismounted. We walked over to a man wearing suspenders over a white shirt with a tie. He was wearing sunglasses and had brown hair and a beard. He looked strangely familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. Deciding to let it go, I showed him our credentials. He examined them thoroughly and looked at us over his glasses.

"You kids really think you can handle this?"

"Yes, yes we do. And judging from the credentials, Ozpin thinks so too," I said.

The officer sighed. He wasn't about to argue with what was quite possibly the greatest huntsman in the kingdom.

"Alright, go on through, best we can tell, the energy source is coming from an alley way."

"Thanks."

We started walking in the general direction of the energy signature while Ash pulled out a device to help zero in on the source.

We had been going in circles trying to find the source for hours trying to find the source when we finally got a clear reading and started to walk toward the identified location. When we saw that we were within 300 yards of the source, we told Blake and Weiss to stay back just in case we needed backup.

"And why would we do that?" Weiss asked.

"Because we asked nicely?" Ash suggested.

"But why do you need to go alone?" Blake asked.

"There are certain things that the energy could be releasing that Ozpin only wants us to see until they can be dealt with in a clean fashion."

Weiss and Blake exchanged a look.

"I know, but I promise that we'll tell you what we can at a later time," I said.

"Alright, but don't take too long!" Weiss said as we started back toward the energy source.

"So what do you think is there?" Ash asked me.

"Seeing as it hasn't moved in the past couple hours, I'd say it's not a person," I replied.

"What could have possibly been sent through?"

"I have no idea."

We kept walking cautiously toward the source of the energy signature until we were almost right on top of it. At that point, we took our eyes off the scanner and started searching everywhere for the source. At first, all we found were ordinary objects, but then we found a box that seemed out of place. When I say out of place, I mean that it was a lot fresher than the other cardboard boxes in the alley, plus it looked freshly taped.

We looked at each other and nodded. Ash proceeded to use a blade to cut the tape and moved so I could look at its contents. To say I was surprised at what was inside would be an understatement. Inside the box were a few items that were almost obviously meant for _me_. There were two 12-packs of Coca-Cola and a letter with my name on the envelope. There was another envelope, addressed to Ozpin, and a white cloak, similar to Ruby's and mine… oh shit.

"Ash, look at this," I said, "This was a care package."

"Sure looks like it. Who do you think it's from?"

"No idea, but the cloak gives me a feeling that I'm not liking."

"Read the letter."

* * *

I read:

_Dear Silver,_

_I send this to you knowing exactly where you are and having an idea of the people you have met and what you're doing. I do worry about you at night. I worry even though what you're doing was inevitable. It's in your blood. I'm sure that by now both you and Ozpin have started draw conclusions on why you were sent to Remnant. I have the answer, partially. It's my fault you were sent there. There had to be a trade, I was sent to this world a year or so before you were born. Your father helped set up an identity for me. I should have told you the moment you got hooked on the show that you now know is real. I send this cloak to you so that you may understand who I truly am. I send the coke to you because I know there isn't much of an equivalent to it on Remnant. I also send to you the blueprints for a cross-dimensional communication device. I hope you and Bai are able to get it working! In Ozpin's letter is an explanation on who you really are and your relation to me. If you want the information, simply ask him and he will tell you, my orders. I'm sorry I had to tell you about your heritage this way, but do not tell Ruby or Yang until you are sure they are ready. If they aren't, I don't want to think about it. If you happen to see Qrow or Tai-Yang, please tell them what really happened to me. They deserve to know._

_With Love,_

_Summer Rose Aurelius_

_P.S._

_Indigo and two others disappeared about a month after you four, so keep an eye out!_

* * *

I couldn't move. This was a lot to take in. I had always theorized on Summer Rose not being dead, but to find out that I was right was something that had me highly on edge. That said, my senses were on overdrive and I was able to sense at least two more present in the shadows.

"Come on out, I know you're there," I said as calmly as possible.

Two people stepped out of the shadows at the other end of the alley. One was a male with long black hair and emerald green eyes. He wore a black trench coat along with black pants and shoes. He had a white shirt with a black suit vest and a purple tie. His belt was purple with a silver buckle. On the lower left of his coat there appeared to be an image of a purple, loosely coiled whip that almost looked like a spiral. I could see a sword hilt sticking out from his open coat.

The other person was a female. She had storm-grey eyes and blond hair tied back in a pony tail save for one strand that went down the left side of her face and what looked like grey eagle feathers in her hair. That one was weird but I let it pass for the moment. She wore a black shirt with a moonlight-silver jacket and dark jeans with combat boots. She had a red scarf covering her lower face and a black sash on her right hip with what looked like a white Greek delta with a spear running up the middle of it.

They looked familiar but I couldn't place them. Then it hit me. Long black hair, Blonde hair in a ponytail with one strand loose, not to mention the red scarf, I knew exactly who they were.

The boy was a little younger than me. His name was Davin Eminence. The girl was younger than me by a month, so she was the same age. Her name was Gwyn Athene.

"How's it going Gwyn? Davin?" I asked casually.

I saw a flicker of shock play across their faces before Gwyn lowered her scarf, revealing the rest of her face.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Do you even remember who gave you that scarf?" I shot back.

She looked down at the scarf and a look of realization came to her. I smiled.

"Wow, that really was obvious."

"What about me though? How did you figure me out?" Davin asked.

"You're the only guy I know with long black hair and such bright green eyes dude."

He didn't seem all that pleased with that deduction.

Ash decided to speak up at that moment. "So how did you guys get here? And what's with the feathers Gwyn?"

Gwyn scowled; I guessed it was a touchy subject for her.

"We got sent here about a month after you guys did. And just so you know, the torch at school burned for like a week and a half after you guys disappeared," Davin said.

"Wow, thanks. I really wanted to hear about my supposed death today," Ash said.

I nodded in agreement. "What happened with Gwyn?"

"Apparently a small glitch happened during transportation between our world and Remnant, causing her to become some sort of bird Faunus."

"I think they're eagle feathers. Strange, my father always loved eagles. I would have preferred to have the wing feathers of an owl though. They're much smarter," Gwyn said.

We all looked at her, surprised. She just shrugged and said, "If I'm going to be a Faunus, I can at least wish I was a Faunus of my favorite animal."

We all laughed at that. It felt good to laugh with the friends I had known for a long time again.

"So what have you guys been up to?" I asked.

"We've been keeping tabs on White Fang movements to make sure they stay at least somewhat constant with the show," Davin said.

"What about you?" Gwyn asked.

"We've been at Beacon, training and doing different missions such as this one for Ozpin," Ash said.

"Where are Bai and Rowan?" Davin asked.

"They got assigned to a different mission from us. They're working with half of Team RWBY while we work with the other two," I said.

"Anything gone wrong on your end yet?" Gwyn asked.

"Not yet, but I'm sure it'll happen at some point. Speaking of which," I said, drawing a revolver, "it looks like someone's curious over there." I fired close to the corner of the alley, hearing a small yelp of surprise.

"Come on out Weiss. You too Blake." I said.

Blake hopped down from the rooftop while Weiss came from around the corner.

"How did you know?" Weiss asked.

"You're not exactly the master of stealth Ice Queen," I said, earning a laugh from Davin and Gwyn, and a smile from Blake.

"Anyways," Ash said, trying to keep Weiss calm, "allow us to introduce you guys to some friends of ours. Weiss, Blake, meet Davin Eminence and Gwyn Athene."

The two parties approached each other and shook hands, smiling.

"So what do you guys do?" Weiss asked.

"Mostly reconnaissance stuff. The occasional sabotage or skirmish will break out on mission, but we can handle ourselves," Gwyn said.

Davin grinned and drew his sword. At first glance, it looked like it simply had a double serrated edge. Then he hit a button and the pieces came apart, forming a chain of small blades, a chain-sword then. Then he clicked another button and a cold mist could be seen emanating from the sword. After a few seconds, he reformed it and sheathed it and looked expectantly at Gwyn.

Gwyn first unsheathed a dagger from her boot and showed it to us and sheathed it. She then reached back and pulled out a gold poled spear with a silver tip, she then twirled it around before turning it into an assault rifle and putting it away. The last thing she did was hold up her wrist, which had some sort of bracelet on it, and tapped it. It instantly unfolded into a shield that looked like it had the impression of a face sticking out… wait, was that Medusa? When did she have the time to make that?

Everyone looking at the shield unconsciously took a few steps back at the sight of it.

Gwyn laughed a little bit at our reactions and put away the shield, visibly putting everyone back at ease.

"Sorry, forgot about the effect of my shield, it causes those who see it to at least hesitate before attacking, giving me an edge in battle," she said.

Weiss looked appalled and Blake just looked mildly surprised.

"That's a nice trick you've got there," I said.

"I aim to please," she said.

I raised an eyebrow at this comment. She just smirked right back.

Ash finally got over his shock and said, "It was nice seeing you, but we have to get this stuff back to Beacon. Ozpin needs to see this."

"We'll call you if we have any info for you," Davin said.

"Thanks, we'll call you if we ever need back up," I said.

"We'll be there," Gwyn said.

With that, we parted ways, going on our way to do the various things we had to do. We headed back to our motorcycles, where we put everything except Summer's cloak in the storage compartments. (I had stashed the cloak in my bag to keep Weiss and Blake from seeing it, as they would no doubt tell Ruby and Yang.)

We then got ready for the drive back to Beacon by doing various stretches and checking our helmets before finally heading out.

* * *

It was late by the time we arrived back at Beacon and we were on our way back up to Professor Ozpin's office when we saw a Bullhead quickly land with a medical team getting out with two stretchers. Before we could get a closer look at who was being rushed to the infirmary, we saw two more motorcycles, Bai and Rowan's, pull up, but it wasn't them riding.

Both riders quickly dismounted, revealing themselves to be Ruby and Yang. Ruby looked extremely distraught, almost on the verge of tears, and Yang just looked shell-shocked. Realizing what that meant, I dropped the box I was carrying, and Ash and I sprinted over to the stretchers that were being rushed away.

I saw Bai and Rowan, both with bandages all over, though Bai looked in way better shape than Rowan did. Rowan was battered and bruised and looked like he had taken quite the beating. His glasses were cracked and there were some particularly large injuries on his back and chest.

Team RWBY appeared behind me, I turned to look at them and they all backed up a few feet, nervous looks on their faces. I then realized that my eyes were switching between a brilliant gold color and a shining blue. I willed my semblance to come back under my control and then reopened my eyes, getting looks of relief from them.

I put my hand on the frozen form of Ash and said, "Let's leave this to the medics. We need to go see Ozpin"

He nodded and followed me with Team RWBY to Ozpin's office.

As we walked, I looked at Yang and Ruby and said, "What happened?"

Yang responded for them both, Ruby still seeming to be out of it. "We don't really know exactly how they got all those injuries, they told us to get out of there before the battle started."

"Do you know who it was?" Ash asked.

"Based on the Intel, it would have to be someone extremely skilled," I said, "Did you ever get a name?"

"Yeah, yeah he gave us his name shortly before Bai and Rowan started getting really tense. He said he was a friend of yours. Indigo Cole, I think he said?"

I suddenly felt very cold.

"Did you just say 'Indigo Cole'?" I asked.

"Yeah, we thought we would be okay since it was just him, but then Rowan started yelling at us to get back to the bikes and get Ozpin as fast as possible."

"So Ozpin already knows then?" Ash asked.

Yang nodded, and Ruby still wasn't responding to anything. I stopped and gripped Ruby by the shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. She looked at me with her sad eyes and I instantly knew what was troubling her.

"It wasn't your fault Ruby," I said.

She looked at me, shocked. "How can you say that? Of course it was my fault! If I had stayed, Rowan wouldn't have gotten hurt as bad!"

"Ruby, Rowan knew exactly what he was doing when he told you to go. If you and Yang hadn't left, would they still be alive? Would Ozpin have the information he has now? No to both of those things, so you need to stop blaming yourself, and start thinking about helping Rowan through this."

She stared at me for a good 30 seconds before finally saying, "Thanks, Silver, you're right. I need to stay positive for Rowan!"

I nodded. "Of course I'm right, now let's go catch up with the others."

* * *

When we finally arrived at Ozpin's office, we found the others waiting for us.

Ozpin started as soon as we arrived. "Now that you're all here, it's time we went over today's events. I'm sure you're all aware by now of the events that transpired at the 'abandoned' warehouse. I was able to get the footage of the entire battle before the footage was mysteriously wiped. Here it is." He turned his screen for us to see.

I watched as Ruby, Yang, Rowan, and Bai entered the warehouse and were confronted by Indigo. I saw Ruby and Yang leave, albeit reluctantly. I watched in horror at the power that Indigo displayed, and how he was quick to capitalize on Bai's momentary weakness and how he and Rowan were trading blows for such a long time before Rowan was finally thrown into the wall and then pinned to the ground. I thought that had to be the end until I saw Rowan open his eyes and push Indigo back. I watched in awe as Rowan tested out his newly found power by conjuring flames to cover his fist and then his entire body. I then watched proudly as Rowan took the fight back to Indigo and was able to subdue him. The clip ended with Indigo disappearing in a whirl of shadows, and Rowan hitting the ground with Ruby running towards him.

Everyone was staring at Ozpin, hoping for an explanation.

"I do not know how you four from SABR know this boy, but I am glad you aren't with him."

"Of course we're not with him. He's not the same guy we used to know," Ash said, "At least, not if he's doing stuff like that."

Ozpin nodded, while Yang spoke up. "Sir, I thought Rowan's semblance was invisibility. Where did the fire come from?"

Everyone nodded in agreement; we were confused about that as well.

"It appears that Mr. Chase has unlocked an incredibly rare technique known as a sub-semblance," Ozpin said, "This technique has varying difficulties in being unlocked, depending on the person. It usually manifests itself in a particularly life threatening situation where a particular emotion may be running high. Anger, sadness… love," he said, looking at Ruby, who blushed. "It seems that Mr. Chase had fulfilled the requirements to unlock his sub-semblance, and was able to defeat Indigo and survive the battle, at a great cost to his aura however."

We all nodded at his explanation, it made sense, and I had a feeling that once Rowan was fully recovered, Yang was going to have a long 'talk' about his emotions during the battle.

"Team RWBY, you are dismissed, you need to get some rest, Mr. Aurelius, Mr. Winters, we have some things to discuss," Ozpin said.

Team RWBY left, although it looked like Weiss and Blake wanted to stay behind. I shook my head at them, and they nodded, respecting our privacy.

"So, what do you want to know?" Ash asked.

"You could tell me what you found at the source of the energy signature," Ozpin said.

"Sure, here's the first part you should see," I said, handing him the envelope with his name on it. He looked at me in confusion, but I just smiled. He took the letter and read.

As he read, his demeanor grew more of a mix of surprise and seriousness. I knew he was really surprised because of his widened eyes behind his glasses, and his absolute look of surprise and a bit of sadness when he looked directly at me.

When he had finished, he said, "This is real?"

"One hundred percent," I said, "If you still have doubts, here's the letter she wrote to me."

He read the letter, and once he was finished, he pulled a small metal flask out from under his desk and poured a small amount of amber liquid into his coffee.

"Where are the rest of the items you picked up?" he asked, taking a sip of his now spiked coffee.

"Right here," Ash said, hefting the box.

"There wasn't much, professor, just the letters, two drink packages, and my mother's cloak," I said, pulling out one of the said drinks and popping the tab.

"May I see it?" he asked.

I nodded, put my drink down, and reached into my bag. I watched Ozpin let out an involuntary gasp as I withdrew the white and red cloak. I handed it to him and he seemed to be fighting to keep his emotions under control. He examined it for a little bit before handing it back to me.

"How is this possible? You're older than Ruby, and yet you were born after her supposed death. How?" he asked.

Ash shrugged, he was smart, but he didn't do physics. "Maybe she was flung not only across space, but time as well," I said, "Meaning that while in this world, I should be younger than Ruby, I'm older because Summer was transported a couple years into the past as well."

Ozpin nodded. "Qrow is on a long-term assignment at the moment, but will you visit Tai-Yang?" he asked.

"Give me an address and I'll pay him a visit, but not for a few weeks, I need this to sink in myself before I explain it to the man I suppose I could call my step-father," I said.

Ozpin smiled at that, and handed me a slip of paper. "Here's his contact info, I'll tell him to expect some form of contact from a Beacon student within the next few weeks."

I nodded and turned to leave, until I remembered something. "Oh, and we met two more friends while on mission. Don't worry, they're no threat, they'll be calling us if there's any unusual movement from the White Fang or Torchwick."

Ozpin nodded and excused us.

"If you need us, we'll be in the infirmary, visiting Bai and Rowan," Ash said.

And with that, we left his office, leaving him to his thoughts and his alcohol. It was going to be a sleepless night for a few people, more than likely including us.

* * *

**This took me a while to finish and I'm glad that it's over. Next order of business:**

**How do you like the new characters? Can you guess who they are based on?**

**How about that nice little shot of Ruby worried about Rowan? I think he might like it and just not be telling me so.**

**I'm thinking about adding ONE more OC, and since I'm pretty much out of ideas, I turn to you, the readers to help me out. Give me as much information as possible on your OC, including whether they are originally from Remnant or not, the weapon and appearance, and a theme song so I can get a vibe for the character and we're in business.**

**Oathkeeper0317, you are not allowed to participate in this for the reasons we discussed a couple weeks ago. Also, your OCs are too OP for my tastes, sorry.**

**See you next time!**


	11. ANNOUNCEMENT 2

**I'm sure you have all heard about the tragic death of our inspiration, my inspiration, Monty Oum. I'm not going to go into the full emotional outburst thing, since that's not really me, but I'm just going to make a couple of announcements:**

**1\. After Chapter 10 is released, I'm going to go dark for about a week while I wait for news on the possible continuation of RWBY.**

**2\. The second part of the first story of my one-shot series will be out in a couple weeks.**

**3\. Anyone who wants to send me an OC should PM me with the information on the OC. (I will take it in the reviews if you are a guest)**

**4\. I would like to pay my respects to Mr. Monty Oum, the one who made this story possible. Mr. Oum, I salute you.**


	12. Bonus: Tribute

**Normally, I would post this under the extra story only. This is too important to not post on the main one too. Remember him, but do not ever, say goodbye.**

"I believe the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dream is something you will not achieve within your lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself. There is no futility, even in death." – Monty Oum

**Bonus Chapter: Tribute**

**Normal POV**

Team RWBY was walking down the hall towards their dorm room. Weiss looked a irritated at the pun Yang made and Ruby was laughing while Blake was reading as they walked. They had passed what they had thought was an empty classroom when they heard a lot of shouting.

"What was that?" Weiss asked, surprised by the sudden outburst from the room.

"Whoever it was, they sounded oddly familiar…" Ruby said.

Blake's ears perked up, though she didn't let on about it. "That sounded like SABR."

"What's got them so worked up?" Yang wondered.

"I don't know, but they aren't usually that loud. Let's go see what's going on," Ruby said, walking towards the closed door.

As quietly as they could, Team RWBY opened the door to see what was going on. They saw Team SABR huddled around what looked like it could be some sort of video call, but from where they were, they couldn't see who they were talking to.

"What do you mean, 'He's dead'?" Silver was shouting at whoever was on the other end of the call.

A woman's voice spoke, "It's exactly what I said Silver. He's gone." At those words, Silver went from anger to sadness in seconds.

"What happened?" Rowan asked, masking his emotions without a trace.

"He suffered from an allergic reaction and slipped into a coma. I'm sorry guys, he wasn't able to recover," the mystery woman said.

"Send us the video of the podcast later, would you? We'll grieve in our own way," Ash said.

"Will do Ash. I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

"Yeah. See you later," Silver said, and he ended the call.

The tension within the room could have been cut with a knife, but RWBY still walked quietly into the room, albeit nervously, while SABR seemed completely oblivious to them.

"Hey… guys? What was that about?" Ruby asked nervously.

That was enough to snap the four boys out of their thoughts. Silver's head snapped up from where he was sitting at the desk, his eyes filled with anger and sorrow, a look Blake knew all too well. Before anyone could do anything, Silver disappeared in a flash of lightning. Blake ran out the door after him, having an idea of where he might go. Weiss tried to approach Ash, but when he noticed her approach, he just allowed himself to phase through the floor into the level below them, causing Weiss to leave to try to find him as well. Ruby was almost right next to Rowan when he flickered into his invisibility and fled through an open window. Ruby used her speed to race out the door to try and find him. Through all of the commotion, Bai had just sat there, looking at the ground, making no attempt to leave the room.

When he noticed that Yang had taken the seat next to him and was looking at him in worry, he said, "We'll be alright, Yang, we just need a little bit of time."

"What happened though?" she asked, "You guys were really worrying us, and its not like Rowan or Ash to push us away, heck, even Silver shouldn't have run like that."

"We just got a call from Silver's family," Bai said.

Yang stared. "What happened?"

"None of his family died, if that's what you're thinking. It's so much more than that, even if we didn't even know the guy personally."

"Okay, then what's the deal with the guy then? What made him special to you guys?"

"He's the one who inspired us to become Huntsmen. He wasn't one himself, but he taught us all about the Grimm and Beacon, and did many other things for all of his fans. Whatever he did, brought joy to all of his fans who saw his work, and he just died a couple of days ago."

Yang didn't really know what to say. She had lost her mother when she was young, so she knew loss, but this seemed, different somehow.

"You know what Yang?" Bai said.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to hear a quote that he used to always say?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've decided to help carry on what he lived for, which reminded me of this quote: 'Keep moving forward'. Think about that for a little while." Bai then left the room, shortly followed by Yang, hoping to get more answers from him.

**Ruby's POV**

I was running top speed across the school, looking everywhere I thought Rowan could have gone to. Then I realized exactly where he had to be.

I slowed down once I reached the corner and walked silently into the weapon shop. At one of the back workbenches, I saw Rowan working on his rifle. As I approached him, I realized that he wasn't actually doing anything, just disassembling and then reassembling his rifle over and over again.

"Rowan? What's wrong? I know something's bothering you, and I really want to know what it is," I said.

He stopped working and slowly turned around, a look of sadness in his eyes. He sighed and said, "Sorry about that, we were just really wound up from the news that Silver's mom gave us. None of his family died, but the man who inspired us all died a couple days ago."

"Oh…" I said. I had my own sadness from when my mom died.

"Rowan, what was he like?"

Rowan looked at me for a little while before saying, "How to explain a man you never personally knew…"

That one caught me off guard. "You didn't even actually know the guy?"

He nodded. "We didn't actually know him, but that doesn't make us any less sad about his death. Ruby, this man, he inspired many, and he enjoyed what he did, and what he did, brought joy to people all over the world."

I nodded with a new understanding. "Well, at the very least, now he is in a better place!" I said, trying to cheer him up.

He smiled a little bit before saying, "Ruby, would you like to hear a quote from him?"

I nodded, wanting to hear whatever it was.

"He once said this: 'Guys… Life… it's pretty awesome. Just keep at it. And I'll keep going too'."

I just looked at him and said, "Why did he say that?"

He smiled a little more and said, "Because he loved his fans and never shot anyone down, he just told them how they could do what they did better."

**Weiss' POV**

It took me a while to find Ash, seeing as he had the advantage of not having to worry about trivial things, such as doors or walls, but I finally found him outside, sitting on a bench on some sort of balcony area.

"Ash Winters!" I said with concern instead of a yell, "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?"

"Hello to you too Weiss," he said nonchalantly.

I huffed, this was not going to be easy, but I had to find out what the problem was.

"What happened? Who was that you were talking to?" I asked.

"The man who inspired us to get where we are today died a couple of days ago. As for who we were talking to, that would be Silver's mother," he said.

"What exactly did he do to inspire you?" I asked curiously.

"He was an inspirational person. He didn't necessarily care what people thought of him, he kept working to make things better, and the things he did, always made people smile."

"He sounds like a good person. Did you know him?" I asked.

He laughed a little at this. "No. No, I didn't know him, none of us did, but I sure do wish I had."

"Then how are you so sad?"

"Because he's the one who always made people smile, Weiss. Even when he wasn't working on one of his projects, he found a way to make people smile."

"Now I wish I knew him."

I saw Ash struggle with himself when I said this until he finally said, "I do too, Weiss. Actually, would you like to hear a quote from one of his works?"

"Sure."

"He put this at the start of one of his videos once: 'Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable'."

"That was amazing…" I said, feeling tears in my eyes.

"Yeah," Ash said, "And so was he."

**Blake's POV**

It took me an hour or so to find Silver, by that time the sun was setting, and he was venting some lightning into the sky, apparently relieving some stress. He was on the roof of one of the higher towers, now looking calm, watching the sunset.

"Silver?" I said, confused by the change of attitude, and taking a seat at the edge next to him.

"Hey Blake," he said, "Sorry for the outburst. I just have a lot on my mind. Hearing about the death of someone I respected and inspired me was something that I couldn't really deal with very well."

"I was just concerned by the look you had in your eyes when we walked in earlier. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

He sighed. "I'll be okay. It was just a shock for me. It really did feel like the guy was immortal, despite being only 33. I had hoped to show him my ideas and get his feedback. Well, they say the good die because they have already learned what they can from life, I wonder if that's true."

I stayed silent, I knew that there were many in the White Fang who had spoken out against the violence, but as far as I knew, they had either gone into hiding, or were simply never heard from again.

"You know, Blake," he said, "I don't think I'll ever be able to forget what he did for me and all of his other fans. He spread joy wherever he went. I guess that's why I respected him so much."

"He sounds like he was a really good person," I said.

"He was Blake," he said, "I just wish I had had the opportunity to meet him. Maybe in another life, next time."

"I wish I could have known him," I said, "He sounds like he would have been an interesting person to talk to."

"He was a person who wouldn't really hate on something, he would just tell you how it could be better, and I'm sure he would have loved to meet you too Blake." Silver said the second sentence as if he already did, but I let it slide, it was a question for later.

"Hey, Blake, would you like to hear a quote I learned from a project he worked on before he died?" Silver asked.

I nodded, wondering what Silver was about to say that could be so important to the man's memory.

"It went something like this: 'Never say goodbye. If you don't say goodbye then you aren't really gone, you just aren't here right now.'"

I sat for a moment, and thought about what he just said. "I've never thought about it that way."

"I hadn't either, until I heard it, but now you know why you will never, ever hear me say goodbye," he said, "Because I will never be gone, and neither will my friends with me, because I will never say the words that declare they're leaving."

"So, what was his name? I don't think you ever mentioned it," I said.

He paused for a moment and said, "His name was Monty Oum, he died February first, and he will be missed."

"Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily." – Napoleon Bonaparte

**There you have it folks, I'm still shocked by the loss of the man who inspired us all. The rest of the stuff a the bottom is stuff I feel sums up the moment fairly well. Please check it out.**

"**A New Hope" by Broken Iris**

**From "Red Like Roses Part II"**

Red like roses

Fills my head with dreams and finds me

Always closer

To the emptiness and sadness

That has come to take the place of you.

**1981- 2015**

**Monty Oum, **

**you will be missed.**


	13. The Saber at the Cardinal's Throat

**I will never forget what Monty inspired me to do. But now I must "Keep moving forward". Here's the next chapter.**

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." –Albert Pike

**Chapter 10: The Saber at the Cardinal's Throat**

**Normal POV**

* * *

Silver sat in the stands of the combat arena, watching as Jaune tried to catch his breath. Cardin Winchester stood across from him, not seeming tired in any way. Jaune was now using his sword for support while Cardin just laughed. Silver narrowed his eyes; he didn't like Cardin's behavior one bit. It was one thing to watch it as a plot point in a show, it was an entire other thing to see it with his own eyes.

Jaune looking determined, rushed forward and slashed at Cardin, who just sidestepped and knocked the shield out of Jaune's hand, causing him to lose balance and hit the ground. Undeterred, Jaune charged again, and Cardin defended against the slash. Cardin said a few words to Jaune, and the blonde started to reply before getting kneed in the gut. Cardin was about to slam his mace down on Jaune when Professor Goodwitch called the match, much to Cardin's annoyance.

"Students," Goodwitch said, walking up to the front, "as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has dropped into the red. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and the official may call the match. Mr. Arc, its been weeks now, please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will tell you when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more… defensive strategy." Jaune looked at his Scroll and sighed. "We wouldn't want you to get gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself," Cardin said, hefting his mace and walking away.

"Remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale." The bell rang and Jaune just got up with a dejected look on his face, with Pyrrha looking worriedly after him.

* * *

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SABR were sitting at the same table at lunch, Nora was telling a story while Ren corrected parts of the dream he now had fully memorized, Weiss was filing her nails, Bai and Yang were listening, though Bai was only half listening, Blake was reading a book, Rowan was absent-mindedly twirling a bullet casing, and Jaune was distractedly poking at his food. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Silver exchanged looks at Jaune's current behavior.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, snapping him out of his trance.

"Huh? Yeah. Why?" He hurriedly said.

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay," Ruby said.

"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look," he said, holding up his thumb and smiling. No one was convinced. He heard laughing coming from another table and saw Team CRDL sitting around a brown-haired rabbit Faunus.

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school," Pyrrha said, sternly.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? No, he just likes to mess around, that's all, you know, practical jokes!"

"He's a bully," Ruby said flatly.

"Oh please, name one time he's 'bullied' me."

Everyone looked at him and started listing off times that Jaune had been bullied by Cardin, including a time he had been forced into one of the rocket-propelled lockers and sent flying out of the school.

"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune said, trying to stay light.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask!" Pyrrha said.

"Ooh! We'll break his legs!" Nora said loudly.

"Guys, its fine! Besides, its not like he's only a jerk to me! He's a jerk to everyone."

At this everyone turned as a cry of pain came from over where CRDL was sitting. Cardin was currently pulling on the rabbit Faunus's ears, saying, "I told you it was real!"

Having seen enough, and really being pissed off by Cardin in recent weeks, Silver's eyes sparked and he slammed his fist loudly on the table. There was a cracking noise as the table almost broke and Silver got up from his seat and walked over to where Team CRDL was torturing the poor Faunus. The rest of the group, minus the rest of Team SABR watched curiously. SABR just took pity on Cardin.

Cardin was about to take another pull on the ear when Silver grabbed his wrist and poured his soda right down the bully's back. Cardin released the ear and stood up in shock and anger.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

Silver, however, ignored him for the moment, turning to the Faunus, he said, "Go ahead and go, I'll handle him." He then turned back to Cardin, his eyes going back to their look of rage, causing Cardin to falter a little bit. The Faunus went a short distance away and watched as the scene unfolded, the two boys now had the attention of more than half of the cafeteria.

"You think you're so tough, helping an animal like her?" Cardin asked.

"Yes, and I also think that I'm about a thousand times the person you could ever be," Silver said, an edge to his voice.

Cardin drew his mace, and said, "I'll show you!" He swung at the now positively sparking Silver.

Just before the mace hit, Silver disappeared in a flash of lightning. Cardin wasn't expecting to hit nothing, and lost his balance. Silver reappeared behind him, but now the pressure had gone up in the room, and the taste of metal filled everyone's mouth. Before anyone could do more than blink, Cardin had been struck by lightning.

"You want to pick a fight? Do it on the training floor next time," Silver said.

"You want a fight?" Cardin asked, "I'll give you a fight! My team versus your team, right now!"

Silver smirked. Cardin had taken the bait. "I'll do you one better Cardin. How about just me and one of my team mates?"

Everyone in the room instantly went wide-eyed at his proposition. Deliberately giving the enemy superior numbers was a risky move, but against the brute force of Team CRDL? There was no way they were going to be surviving this.

Cardin smiled cockily. "You're on! We'll see you there." Team CRDL left the cafeteria to get ready for the fight.

Silver then turned to the crowd and said, "I'd like for you all to come and watch the fight, I'm going to be saying a few words there as well." It was half request and half order.

"Hey Bai," Silver said turning back to the table.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Would you like to join me in wiping the floor with CRDL?"

Bai grinned. "Let's do it!"

Everyone, except for Ash and Rowan, stared incredulously after the two challengers. Ash and Rowan were just smiling madly. Teams RWBY and JNPR were more than a little bit scared by the looks on their faces.

* * *

By the time Silver and Bai arrived at the combat arena, half of the stands were filled, and Team CRDL was standing at one end of the arena. The two entered the arena and Silver walked forward, his hand extended in what was supposed to be a friendly gesture. His eyes betrayed his true feelings of rage. Cardin grudgingly took Silver's hand and received a crushing grip from the less muscularly defined boy.

The S and B of SABR readied themselves, but did not draw their weapons. Team CRDL had their weapons at the ready. The appointed referee set the rules and counted down the match.

"Three!"

Both teams tensed, getting ready to go.

"Two!"

"One"

Cardin and Russell readied themselves to charge.

"Begin!"

Cardin and Russell ran straight towards the two, Cardin going for Silver, Russell going for Bai. Silver and Bai still made no attempt to draw their weapons. Just as Russell was about to hit Bai, a wall of solid light appeared, trapping the attacker's wrist. Cardin brought his mace down towards Silver and felt it actually meet resistance that meant it had hit. He looked up in surprise as he realized that Silver had _caught_ the mace with one hand. His eyes were starting to change between gold and blue again.

"You really are arrogant aren't you?" Silver said.

Cardin had nothing to say as Silver through him back as Bai did the same with Russell. Without many other options, the four members of CRDL surrounded the two from SABR. Silver smiled at the situation CRDL had put themselves in.

Silver put on his sunglasses and shouted, "Bai! Lighthouse!"

Bai released a blast of light that disoriented everyone in the room. When the light had died down, the crowd was surprised to see all of CRDL down except for Cardin, with Silver standing in the middle with two smoking revolvers, and Bai holding his swords. He took off his sunglasses and looked at Cardin with a look of both satisfaction and anger. He holstered his revolvers and started walking towards Cardin. Bai decided to let Silver vent his anger, he needed the relief.

"I have a couple of ground rules for you Cardin," Silver said, seeming to get more pissed off with every step, "Rule One: Hurt or bully any more Faunus in _any_ way, and you won't be waking up until the end of the semester."

Cardin took a step back, but otherwise kept his composure.

"Rule Two: Bully anyone just for the sake of proving your 'superiority' ever again, and I won't have the same mercy I've been showing you all day."

Silver was only a few paces from Cardin by this point, and was readying his semblance for the final blow.

"And Rule Three: Never, ever underestimate the people you see based on appearances. You'll regret it, but I suppose you already know that, don't you?"

Cardin visibly gulped, and in a flash of light, Silver was right up in his face, he tried to defend, but Silver quickly punched him in the gut with a lightning punch, sending him into the air. Before he could come back down, Silver had jumped up and wit one final punch, sent Cardin into the floor, making a crater.

Silver landed and turned to the shocked audience, saying, "Those rules go for all of you as well. We are training to be guardians of both humans, and Faunus, not one or the other."

He walked out of the arena with his teammate and knew full well that Cardin was not going to abide by his rules, but he would deal with that later.

"Thanks for the help Bai," he said to his teammate.

"No problem, I've been wanting to let off some steam for a while now, at the very least, we should be seeing less activity from them."

"Yeah, but we're going to have to keep a close eye on Jaune from now on."

Bai nodded in understanding. "I'll give Jaune the advice he needs to hear. Mine combined with Ruby's should help him realize his mistake faster than last time."

"So, now what?" Silver asked.

"We could go finish lunch and do some homework."

"Lunch sounds good. The homework part… not so much."

They walked back to the cafeteria, smiling from our victory over CRDL.

* * *

In his office, Ozpin smiled at the beat down the two members of SABR had given CRDL. He decided to do nothing about their excessive force used. That was exactly what was needed to help decrease the discrimination in his school. Now, what to do with Mr. Arc… Of course Ozpin knew his transcripts were fake, he was the headmaster after all…

* * *

**It may be a while until the next update. I have stuff to do and a story to think about. Multiple stories really. One of which being a project I'm working on that will be completely original. So I have some work ahead of me...**


	14. A Light of Wisdom

**Sorry if any of you were starting to get a bit impatient waiting for this chapter. I've been a bit busy lately, and this chapter will more than likely just be something I crank out to keep it going. OC submissions will probably be held until Chapter 15, so keep them coming! Enjoy!**

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance." –Harrison Ford

**Chapter 11: A Light of Wisdom**

**Bai's POV**

* * *

I sighed. It was going to be quite the night. Silver said he had other things to do, so here I am sitting on top of a rooftop to make sure nothing happens that isn't supposed to happen to Jaune. I watched as Jaune and Pyrrha came through a door on the rooftop below me, and could barely suppress a chuckle, despite the seriousness of the situation, when I heard Jaune's assumption that Pyrrha was telling him to commit suicide along with Pyrrha's very quick and surprised reaction.

"_Although,"_ I thought, _"It kind of loses its humor in this now very real situation…"_

Currently, the two teammates were arguing about Jaune's status at Beacon, and how Pyrrha wanted to help Jaune become a better fighter.

"_If this is a part where this world should split with the show, it should happen RIGHT NOW!"_ I thought.

Jaune, with his pride still hurt after the class with Oobleck earlier, refused, and when Pyrrha tried to convince him further, he revealed the fact that his transcripts were fake, earning him a few more silent curses about his stupidity from myself.

"_He really shouldn't be throwing that out there when he doesn't know who could be listening,"_ I thought.

Unfortunately, I couldn't let anyone but Jaune know that I was watching, which meant making sure he was alone before I started talking to him, and from what I remember, that was still a while from now. I continued to watch as Pyrrha left, leaving Jaune alone on the roof. His solitude did not last as I watched Cardin climb onto the roof from his dorm room window.

Cardin proceeded to very passively blackmail Jaune about his enrollment at Beacon and 'assure' Jaune that he wasn't going to be telling anyone about his fake transcripts. I was tempted to simply nail Cardin then and there, but decided to do it later. After a couple of minutes, Cardin climbed back through the window to his dorm, having told Jaune to do the extra homework that Oobleck had given them earlier.

I sighed and quietly jumped down behind Jaune. He was still on the ground from the suffocating headlock that Cardin had put him in during their 'talk'.

"You know," I said, startling the guy, "You really should have taken Pyrrha up on her offer to help you."

"How long have you been listening?" he asked.

"Ever since you and Pyrrha first came to the rooftop."

He groaned. "So? Are you going to tell me that I should leave? That I'm a failure as a huntsman and as a person?"

I raised an eyebrow at this. "No, I was actually here to tell you that SABR has your back, even if your transcripts are fake."

"But why?"

"First off, we see a lot of potential in you. You just need help for it to manifest itself. Second, we already knew that your transcripts were fake."

"Then why didn't you rat me out? And how did you know?" he asked, surprised at our actions.

"Like I said, we saw potential in you. As to how we knew, well, one of the first things that our team did was set up an interface that would allow us access to student records in case we needed info for assistance on a mission or something like that, and we also made sure that no messages could go in or out of this campus without us knowing about it."

"I get the student info thing, but why the message interception?" he asked, now curious.

"We needed it just in case of either an issue coming up that would need our attention that we didn't need the professors asking about why we wanted to know, and also just in case of espionage."

"Espionage?" he asked, "Why would anyone infiltrate and try to disturb a school like Beacon?"

"You'd be surprised," I answered simply.

"Anyways, you were saying?"

"Yeah, Team SABR has your back, we, mostly me, will be making sure that CRDL doesn't step too far out of line. Other than that, we figure that you can fight through this battle and come out on top."

"You do? Why? Cardin's a lot tougher than I am!"

"Who said anything about matching his _physical_ strength? All you have to do is show him what you are truly capable of and he'll back off."

"You're sure?" he asked, still looking conflicted.

"Completely. Don't worry about it. But we do need you to play along with Cardin for a little while. Sorry, but we can't risk your expulsion."

"I get it."

"Cheer up bro," I said, taking out my bow, "At least he'll have a little bit of a limp tomorrow!"

"Wait… What?" he said, now looking much more confused.

I raised my bow and willed an arrow to form from light. I fired and used my semblance to manipulate the arrow's trajectory, causing it to do a 180 and go through CRDL's window. We heard a shout of pain and outrage, followed by a thump.

I smiled at the blond-haired boy next to me saying, "See? Now he'll have a limp tomorrow."

He managed to smile weakly and said, "Thanks, I'll think about what you said."

"_No you won't. You're not going to start until that field trip to Forever Fall next week,"_ I thought.

I said goodnight to him and went back my dorm. This was going to be a long week.

* * *

It had been almost a week and I had helped Jaune more times than I could count. If he was walking to a class and CRDL was making a move towards him, I would cause some sort of diversion, typically by either blinding them, bending the light around Jaune so that they wouldn't see him, or nailing them to a wall for a few minutes. They must have been extremely stupid not to connect these events, but I figured it was because they were able to get to him whenever I wasn't around to stop them. As long as Cardin felt he was able to get to Jaune without too much interference, Jaune's position at Beacon was safe. Not that it was really in danger at the moment, Ozpin already knew his transcripts were fake, even if he didn't tell the other professors. From the conversation I had had with Ozpin earlier, he was just treating this situation like a test of character for Jaune. I had no problem with this, but I didn't tell this to Jaune. I needed Cardin to feel like he still had control over Jaune, otherwise he would continue to bully the guy.

Tomorrow was the field trip to Forever Fall and what I knew was more than likely to be his last day on the job. After I no longer have to watch out for Jaune, I know I'm going to be kicking CRDL's asses all over the forest. I had let Silver take them out during that sparring match because he was the one making a point. It was my turn to have some fun.

* * *

The next day, my teammates and I were walking with RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL in Forever Fall Forest, Professor Goodwitch in the lead. Jaune was carrying a large crate of glass jars to gather sap from the trees in at the back of the group.

"Yes students," Goodwitch was saying, "the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Jaune could be heard panting at the back of the group whilst carrying the heavy case, not paying attention to where he was going, and bumping into Cardin, earning an angry glare from the larger teen.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap," Goodwitch continued, "However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o' clock. Have fun!"

I watched as Cardin smirked and said, "Come on buddy! Let's go."

Jaune looked disappointedly at Pyrrha and the backs of his retreating teammates, sighed and left with Cardin. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to help him, whether I wanted to or not. It was his turn to make some decisions and fight his way out.

Just in case something unexpected happened, Silver, Ash, Rowan, and I had all agreed to stay just out of sight from where CRDL and Jaune were. I had fairly quickly collected my sap, and was now watching the spot where CRDL and Jaune lay, looking over a small ridge. The others would have been with me, but Silver said he still had to make a couple of phone calls and have a quiet conversation with Goodwitch about something, and Ash and Rowan had gone to hangout with Weiss and Ruby respectively.

I was a just outside of earshot, so I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but I didn't need to, I already knew exactly what Cardin wanted.

I watched as Cardin pulled out a box of what I knew were Rapier Wasps, and then bring Jaune up to stand, shoving a jar of sap into his gut. He said a few words to Jaune before he brought the jar back to throw it at Pyrrha, Cardin's intended target, showing a considerable amount of conflict on his face, he stood there with his arm back for a good while, before finally bringing his arms down and throwing the jar at Cardin instead. I grimaced at the look Cardin was giving Jaune. I guess some things just won't change. Cardin didn't get far with beating Jaune before an angry roar sounded from behind the group.

The largest Ursa I had ever seen burst into the clearing. Its attention was focused entirely on Cardin, due to the sap that was still splattered across his armor.

The rest of CRDL ran in the opposite direction with Russell shouting, "That's a big Ursa!"

The Ursa smacked Cardin to the side and continued focusing on the larger teen, leaving Jaune confused on why it had left him completely alone. Cardin slowly backed away from the advancing Ursa, bringing up his mace to defend himself, but it was knocked out of his hand almost as soon as it came up.

Cardin tried to run away, but was quickly knocked back. I watched as Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha arrived, accompanied by Silver, Ash, and Rowan. The Ursa went for what would have been a near lethal slash at Cardin, but was blocked by Jaune's shield. Jaune was barely maintaining his shield's position, and was actually starting to lose coverage. Weiss was readying her rapier, but Pyrrha stopped her from attacking.

Jaune managed to land a diagonal slash across the Ursa's chest, making it stagger back. The Ursa tried to slash at him again, but Jaune rolled to the side while the creature tried to sweep his legs out from under him, making him jump to avoid the claw before being sent rolling across the clearing and standing back up. He charged recklessly at the Ursa, but it just sidestepped and hit Jaune in the back as his momentum carried him past.

Jaune rolled to a stop at another end of the clearing. He stood back up and look at his Aura meter on the inside of his shield. The Ursa came to a stop a few yards from him and roared. They both charged for a final attack, and as he swung his sword, Jaune brought his shield down, leaving himself wide open. I saw Pyrrha lift her arm and a dark aura surrounded her arm and Jaune's shield, as the shield moved back into a defensive position. The Ursa's claw struck Jaune's shield, forcing him to crouch. Using this low point as leverage, Jaune slashed his sword at the Ursa's neck, cutting the creature's head off.

Those watching at the edge of the clearing sheathed their weapons and left to head back to Goodwitch. Silver stayed and joined me where I was standing.

"Do you think I should beat up Cardin now or later?" he asked, watching as Jaune went over and helped Cardin to his feet.

"Don't do it this time, he nearly got killed by an Ursa today, not to mention the injury I gave him last week."

Silver shrugged. "I'll give him a warning then."

I smiled. "Yeah, you do that."

I walked over to where Jaune was and said, "Nice job Jaune. That was a good kill, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be thinking about Pyrrha's offer, got it?"

He nodded. "What's Silver doing?" He gestured over to the retreating forms of Cardin and Silver.

"Oh, right, Silver's 'talking' to Cardin about his mistakes and what he's going to do if he continues to make them."

Jaune grimaced.

"Exactly," I said.

We were about to leave when a low growl could be heard coming from behind us. Jaune and I turned to see Beowolves emerging from the trees behind us. I lost count of how many there were at around twenty, so I quickly drew my bow and summoned some arrows into existence.

"Jaune, run and get help, I'll hold them off!"

"Are you sure? There's so many!"

"I've got it! Just go! You're low on Aura, so you can't fight right now!"

He nodded and ran in the direction the others had gone.

"Alright," I said, making more arrows appear on the bowstring, "Who's first?"

* * *

Several Beowolves charged and I let my arrows fly, manipulating the light they were made of so that they would each hit their mark. Each of the creatures fell, an arrow slowly disappearing from each of their skulls. Several more charged and I leapt into the air, dropping a ball of light as I left the ground. The Grimm grouped around the spot I had been in before being disintegrated in a flash of light.

Roughly two-thirds of the pack was still standing and I was definitely going to be overwhelmed unless I could figure out a way to take them all out quickly. My mind was going at a mile a second, and then I had an idea.

I focused all my energy into making four walls of hard light, boxing in the pack. I then made a roof and slowly lowered it. Once it got down to a certain level, I started hearing howls of pain from the box I had made, but I ignored them, I needed to stay focused.

I kept lowering the roof of the box until it hit the ground, before allowing the box to dissolve. All that was left were a few dozen crushed Beowolf carcasses.

It suddenly felt very hard to stand; I had drained much more energy than I thought I would. I suddenly heard clapping behind me and turned to see everyone, save CRDL, applauding from the impressive show I had apparently shown them. Professor Goodwitch seemed a bit stunned at my capabilities, but was applauding nonetheless.

I smiled at them and slowly walked back over, strength coming back into my legs.

Ash and Silver were shaking their heads in amazement while Rowan muttered, "Show off…"

Teams RWBY and JNPR just looked completely blown away by the control I had over light.

"How did you do that?" Yang asked.

"Lots of practice along with a lot of focus and energy. I spend a lot of energy when I do that."

Goodwitch finally recovered from her shock and said, "Well then, now that we've seen Mr. Ryder's great skill, I feel we should head back to the school."

She then led the class back to the airships to be transported back to Beacon.

* * *

Later that night, I was back on the rooftop, watching as Jaune stared off into the distance.

Pyrrha came through the door and said, "No Cardin tonight? I thought you two were best buds."

Jaune turned to her with a look of sadness on his face. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry. I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice, and I… I had all this stupid, macho stuff in my head-"

Pyrrha cut him off, saying, "Jaune, it's okay," getting a smile out of him and smiling back, she continued, "Your team really misses their leader you know."

She started to walk to the door as she said, "You should come down! Ren made pancakes! No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" Jaune said, just before she reached the door. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but would you still be willing to help me… to help me become a better fighter!"

I saw Pyrrha turn away from Jaune for a second, closing her eyes and smirking. She turned back around, walked up to him, and pushed him to the ground.

"Hey!" he said in protest.

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider, and lower to the ground." She extended her hand to help him up and said, "Let's try that again."

I smiled to myself; things were falling into place rather nicely. Now all we had to do was prepare for Blake's revelation and we would be set for the semester. I stood up and headed back to my dorm, I was going to need the sleep if I was going to be any more planning with the rest of my team.

* * *

**That's that. Just what is Silver so busy doing? Was that but a fraction of Bai's power? What's really going on between Ash and Weiss, and Rowan and Ruby?**

**Ash and Rowan: None of your freaking business! That's what!**

**Anyways, I still need more submissions for OC ideas! Remember, you have until Chapter 15 to get them in! After Chapter 15 is released, the "co-writers" and myself will be going through all submissions and choosing one. The winner will be announced at the end of Chapter 16 or 17. So show me what you've got. **

**As always, please feel free to leave a review with suggestions or feedback. Also, follows and favorites do help keep the motivation to keep the story rolling so those really help.**

**See you all next time!**


	15. Of Gems and Swords

**I'm back with another special chapter guys! I would have liked to have posted this sooner, but planning stories like this takes a lot of time! Enjoy!**

"...A great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all that you think about. You can focus on it, and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient, and you hold still, then maybe... Just maybe... It will come to you."

* * *

**Chapter 12: Of Gems and Swords**

**Normal POV**

It was early morning on the Beacon Academy Campus, the sun hadn't quite started to come up yet, and there was no sound except the occasional howl from the Emerald Forest. It was a Saturday morning, and students weren't expected to be up, much less, fully awake, for quite some time. There was an exception however for two students, one male, one female, both clad in red and black, who were heading toward the garage for an early hunting mission. They walked into the on campus garage, put on their helmets, got on the red and black motorcycle, the male steering with the female on the back, and they rode off towards Forever Fall, the location for their Grimm hunt.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

**Rowan's POV**

I was tired. Ruby and I had been hunting on and off in this forest for five hours now. Last time I checked, it was around 10 o' clock, meaning that if Ruby and I didn't get back into Vale soon, Yang was going to obliterate me. No time to worry about that now though, Ruby and I had some how managed to get surrounded by a pack of Beowolves. Just great. Then I had a thought that made me go colder than the thought of Yang smashing my face in:

"_Wait, today's Saturday. If today's Saturday then that means…"_ I paled. I had completely forgotten about Valentine's Day!

Ruby noticed my change in demeanor and was quick to snap me out of it. "Rowan! Whatever you're thinking about right now, it's going to have to wait! We need to get out of this first!"

I shook my head and nodded. I then started to size up the pack that had surrounded us, looking for weak spots in its ranks. After finding what I could, I cocked my rifle and took aim.

"On my mark…" I said.

The front line of Beowolves charged.

"Now!" I shouted. I flickered into invisibility while Ruby disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

Ruby was zooming around the clearing, slashing and firing at the creatures while I was quickly aiming, firing, and slashing at the creatures around me.

It took us roughly five minutes to cut the entire pack down, and by the end of the fight, both of us were panting in exhaustion.

"I think… we should call it a day… and go back into Vale…" I said between breaths.

"Yeah," she responded, "I'm too tired for another fight like that."

And with that, we made our way back to my motorcycle, leaving the disintegrating Grimm remains behind.

* * *

**Ash's POV**

I was frantically working in the small kitchen that Silver and I had in our dorm, prepping food and an amazing cake for my plans tonight. Having the cake in the oven, and everything ready to cook, I checked the footage from the hallway camera to see that all of Team RWBY had finally left. Now they just had to stay gone for another hour or so and everything would work out. Now what did I do with that box?

* * *

**Silver's POV**

"_I knew I should have done this earlier,"_ I thought as I hurriedly scribbled down a collection of page, line, and letter numbers.

Between helping to keep an eye on CRDL, and establishing contact and making an appointment with one of the professors at Signal, I had completely forgotten to set up my plan for today.

"_Hopefully tonight goes better…"_ I thought, _"If she shows up…"_

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

**Rowan's POV**

After making it out of the forest, Ruby and I had an hour ride back to Vale, something that wasn't all that pleasant. When we were finally able to see Vale, I activated the com-link in my helmet to talk to Ruby, since there was no way she was going to hear me over the engine _and_ the wind.

She clicked her link on and said, "What's up Rowan?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get a bite to eat, and maybe go see a movie. That was a long hunt after all."

"You realize that when Yang finds out, she's going to murder you, right?" she asked.

"Who says she has to know?" I shot back, getting a muffled laugh on the other end.

"Alright then, where were you thinking we go?" she asked curiously.

"I hear that Kara's Café is pretty good."

"Oh yeah! I've heard of that place! That's supposed to be one of the best cafés in Vale!" she said, getting excited.

"Well then, I think we should hurry and get there, don't you?" And with that I revved the engine and sped up, going into the city.

* * *

**One hour later**

Ruby and I had managed to get a window table for two, with a good view of the rest of the city. The café was positioned in the southern part of the city on top of a hill with an excellent view of most of the city, and if you looked to the East, you could just make out the towers of Beacon.

Ruby was right about this place though. I had never been to a better café in the city, given I had only been into the city a few times when not on mission.

We had been talking for a long while after we were first seated and our orders taken. We talked about school, weapons, and other subjects while we waited for our food to be served, and even when it was served, we didn't stop talking while we ate.

We talked and ate for about an hour and a half before finally getting some cookies to go, and heading to a movie theater. Neither Ruby nor me were really into those mushy romance movies, so we opted to see a new action movie that had recently come out. We walked up to the ticket stand and I bought our tickets. We walked in and took our seats, waiting for the movie to start.

"_This day just keeps getting better,"_ I thought.

* * *

**Ash's POV**

After the cake had finished baking, it had taken me forever to put the frosting on completely.

"_Hopefully Weiss likes it,"_ I thought.

I looked at the clock and to my surprise it was already about four in the afternoon.

"_Time flies when you're working I guess…"_

I quickly, and carefully, placed the cake into its box while checking the camera footage to make sure that no one from Team RWBY had come back yet. Satisfied that no one had been seen going in or out, I took the box and walked down the hall towards Team RWBY's dorm. Checking to make sure that no one was nearby, I phased through the door and quickly placed the box on Weiss's bed with a note to her from me, and rushing out of the room to prepare for what I had planned for the night.

* * *

**Silver's POV**

I had finally finished compiling the note in an organized fashion and just needed to get this to Blake. I walked around the school looking for her until I finally found her in the library. She was deeply engrossed in her book, with some sort of thermos next to her, so I made sure that the note was secure and easily visible before walking over and placing it quietly in front of her, and continuing to walk. Now I just had to get a couple of things ready.

* * *

**Rowan's POV**

It had really been a long movie. By the time we got out of the theater it was going on six o' clock. But Ruby had other ideas than simply going back to Beacon. She wanted to go to the park, and as it was Valentine's Day, I complied, not that I wouldn't have complied on any other day.

When we arrived at the park, the sun was starting to set, so we found a large tree on a small hill and watched as the sun went down. After ten minutes of watching, the sun was finally completely down, making more colors appear than just the reds and yellows. Blues, purples, and pinks also came out, and we admired the beauty for as long as it lasted.

After a while, those colors too disappeared, leaving a dark blue. I was about to ask Ruby if she was ready to go when her head hit my shoulder. Her face was peaceful, and she had a small smile on her face as she leaned into me. I couldn't help but smile. I let the moment last for a while before finally leaning into her as she hugged me in her sleep.

"_Today… Today wasn't too bad…"_ I thought as I slowly drifted off to sleep, the lights of Beacon and the city seeming to be stars counting the possibilities in store for us.

The last thing I heard was Ruby talking in her sleep, saying, "I love you Rowan."

I smiled and finally fell asleep.

* * *

**Blake's POV**

I had been reading for what felt like minutes, but was more likely a few hours. I went to put my book down to take a few sips of my tea when I realized there was another book in front of me.

"_When did this get here?"_ I thought. Had I been that engrossed that I hadn't noticed anyone put this book in front of me?

Then I noticed there was a note attached to the book. It had a list of page numbers, line numbers, and letter numbers. Now I was curious. I took out a piece of paper and a pencil and went to work deciphering the message.

After twenty minutes of work, I finally deciphered the message so it read:

_How would you like to go out for some dinner? If you're interested, meet me in the garage at seven._

_-Silver_

I stared at the note in shock. I had never really had anyone express interest in me on Valentine's Day. I checked the time on my Scroll. It was 6:30. I quickly grabbed the books and my thermos before dashing to my dorm room to freshen up after having sat in that chair almost all day.

* * *

**Weiss's POV**

After a long day of studying, and numerous requests for me to go on a date with one person or another, I was ready to just lie down and go to sleep, but that was not to be for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that just as I was rounding the corner to my dorm, Blake ran quickly by me, not even seeming to fully register that I was there. I stood there, dumbfounded at what just happened, before finally walking into my dorm room. Once inside, I saw Yang was excitedly watching Blake as the raven-haired girl seemed to be rushing to change into a fresh set of clothes and freshen herself up as well.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"What?" Blake asked in confusion as she started to touch her hair up a bit.

"You ran right past me like you didn't even know me just now!" I said in outrage.

"You mean you don't know?" Yang asked.

"Know what?"

"Silver's taking Blake here out to dinner!" the blonde cheered.

I looked back at Blake. "When did this happen?"

"I don't really know. I was reading when I found a book had been set down in front of me without me even noticing. It gave a list of page numbers and lines, with instructions on finding the message. Once I deciphered it, I found the note was from Silver, and he wanted me to meet him for dinner in the garage, so I can only assume that we're going into Vale."

"Have fun then," I said.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later." And she quickly ran out of the room.

"Good to see that two of us are having fun," I said, a little disappointed.

"Don't speak too soon, Weiss," Yang said, pointing at my bed, "Looks like something was left for you while we were all gone!"

I looked over at my bed to see a white box with a piece of paper on top of it. I looked at Yang with a raised eyebrow.

"Woah, no I didn't read the note or look in the box! I swear!" she said.

I went over to the box, picked up the note, and simultaneously opened the box. I gasped, almost dropping the note. Inside the box was a large cake shaped perfectly like my snowflake symbol. It even had all the gaps perfectly cut out! I gasped and nearly dropped the note. Yang noticed my sudden excitement and came over to see what it was.

"What's in the box W- Oh. Wow, that is amazing. Who left it here?" she asked.

I couldn't find the words for the skill that must have taken, so instead I read the note.

_Hey Weiss,_

_I figured you might like this so I delivered it early! Would you please bring it up to the roof at seven-thirty? I made dinner!_

_Thank you,_

_Ash_

Yang looked over my shoulder and read the note.

"Don't tell me he made that!" she said in surprise.

"I suppose I'll just have to ask him at dinner then, won't I?" I said, smiling.

I had honestly hoped that he would ask me out, but I didn't think he would do it in such a spectacular fashion.

"Well, if you'll excuse me," I said, walking towards the bathroom, "I have a date to get ready for!"

I closed the door just as I heard Yang snicker, no doubt having some sort of dirty thought.

* * *

**Blake's POV**

I was quickly walking toward the garage to meet Silver for dinner, but now I was getting nervous. By the time I got there, I would be running late. What if he gave up before I got there? I shook my head.

"_Hold it together Blake!"_ I thought.

When I finally reached the garage, I found Silver leaning against his bike with a white shirt and black suit jacket with matching pants and shoes.

"Hey Silver," I said as I approached.

He looked up and smiled. "I was starting to wonder if you were still in the library reading, or not."

I blushed. I almost had read through his requested meeting time, but I didn't tell him that.

Instead, I said, "As if I would miss this."

He raised an eyebrow at this. I resisted the urge to face palm myself for being so… tactless.

"Anyways," he said, breaking the silence, "Would you like to know where we're going?"

"Sure, you said we were going to dinner, but you didn't say where."

"We're going to a restaurant called North Forest Inn."

I was a bit stunned at this. That was one of the best restaurants in Vale, and he was taking me there? That place is expensive.

"Are you sure you're okay with taking me there? It seems like a bit much for a first date."

"It's fine. Besides, what better a place to get to know each other better? I've been busy lately, and haven't been able to talk to you guys as much." he said.

"Well, thanks for the invitation, should we get going?" I asked.

He paled slightly as he looked at the time. "Hope you're okay with a heart stopping speed. Otherwise, I might lose my reservation."

"Let's go then," I replied, smiling.

To say the least, it was a night to remember. It was a night filled with food and laughter. I was actually able to forget about my problems and worries for the night, and I actually felt better than I had in weeks. My mind wandered as we were riding home that night, wondering if we may be able to do this more often.

* * *

**Weiss's POV**

After I had finished getting ready, freshening up, brushing my hair, etc. etc., I picked up the box that contained the cake, gave a quick wave to Yang, who returned it with a smile.

I walked down the hall towards the stairwell that led up to the roof, and started climbing up the steps.

When I finally reached the top, I was a little winded, but otherwise ready. I opened the door, and once again, almost dropped what I was holding, in this case, the cake, in surprise. Ash had been busy. There he was, standing in a dark grey suit with a white rose in the front pocket. Next to him was a candlelit table with two covered silver platters and perfectly placed silverware and napkins. Then I looked back at Ash and saw that he was smiling at me, as if he knew what I was thinking. He probably had a good idea from the look on my face that I just couldn't suppress.

"May I help you to your seat princess?" he said.

In all my time here, I had never heard anyone say that without any sarcasm in their voice, but this was Ash, so he was probably just saying it for an added effect.

I decided to play along a little bit and said, "It's heiress actually."

His smile brightened a little bit more. "Of course it is."

He offered his arm, and I giggled a little bit at his obvious acting, but took it. He led me to my seat, and pushed the chair in for me. This just kept on getting better! When he had taken his seat, he dropped the majority of the act and became a little bit more natural.

He gripped the handles of the platter covers and said, "Presenting, a dinner cooked by myself," he lifted the covers, "grilled chicken and a salad!"

I stared at the plate in front of me. He had prepared this with an eye for detail. The arrangement of the chicken, salad, and dinner roll off to the side was perfect! He rivaled that of my family's personal cooks!

To check to see if he really did match them, I picked up my knife and fork, and cut a small piece from my chicken. I brought the piece to my mouth and started chewing. My eyes widened, I was wrong, he wasn't just a match for them, he was quite easily better than they were!

"What do you think?" he asked cheekily.

I swallowed before answering. "Ash… How exactly is it that you aren't working in the private district with cooking skills like this?"

"What do you mean? I get that it's good, but do you really think it's _that_ good?"

"My family's private chefs can barely match you!" I replied.

He blushed at that. He really didn't think his cooking was as good as I thought it was.

"I'm serious! This is amazing! You did everything perfectly!" I continued.

We continued to eat as we talked, going from subject to subject. His cooking skills, to school, to various other things, it was an amazing night, and I had fun for the first time in a while. We talked deep into the night, finishing our dinners, and eventually, our slices of cake, which he had apparently made himself as well.

It was late night when we finally finished talking, and had cleaned everything up. He had taken everything down but the tablecloth, and I waited for him to come back up before going down.

He came back up after a couple minutes of myself waiting, and picked up the tablecloth. I chose then to step up in front of him, as he would have walked right through the door if I hadn't.

"Hey Weiss, I thought you had already gone back to your room." he said, "Didn't you have things to do before tomorrow?"

I don't know what came over me, but I said, "Shut up Ash, you and I both know why I stayed up here." And then, without a second thought, I kissed him full on the lips. It lasted a few seconds, but for me it felt like forever. Then I broke away, smiled, and left without another word, leaving the red-faced, and dumbfounded teen on the roof.

* * *

**Yang's POV**

I sat brooding on my bunk for about half an hour after Weiss left. I didn't really understand how nobody had asked me to go on a date with them. I sighed, maybe at a later time…

There was a knock at the door just then. I hopped down from my bunk, and opened the door to see Bai.

"Hey Bai, what's up?" I asked.

"Hey Yang, I was just wondering if you had seen Rowan. He's been gone since four this morning with Ruby."

I shook my head. "I haven't seen either of them since this earlier either."

"Okay, well thanks anyway. I'll see you later Yang." He said.

I shut the door and sighed in disappointment before turning my thoughts to Rowan and Ruby. I was going to kill Rowan for keeping my sister out that long!

* * *

**And… Done! Finally finished! Sorry if this special chapter seems a little bit late! On the bright side:**

**Weiss and Ash are now official!**

**Ruby and Rowan are officially official!**

**Blake and Silver have started a relationship of sorts!**

**On the dark side:**

'**Rowan' may actually try to hurt me.**

**This took me longer than it should have to write.**

**Please leave a review! It helps!**

**OC contest is still happening! Keep the submissions coming!**


	16. A Rose of Silver and Gold

**Sorry for the late update! Was only just able to get this finished! Things have been a little bit hectic lately!**

**OC submissions are still being accepted! Keep them coming! I need the ideas!**

"My life is like the summer rose that opens to the morning sky, but ere the shade of evening close is scattered on the ground to die. – Patrick O'Kelly

* * *

**Chapter 13: A Rose of Silver and Gold**

**Normal POV**

Silver stood at the top of a snowy cliff overlooking a dark forest. He stood in front of the 'headstone' of Summer Rose. Despite knowing that she was alive, just not in this world, he still felt it appropriate to pay tribute to his mother's 'grave'. He had his hood pulled up with one hand in his pocket and the other holding onto a half-empty can of Coke, courtesy of the care package sent a few weeks ago. He had his messenger bag hung over his shoulder, carrying her white cloak and a few other things.

He couldn't help but smile at the handiwork of the stone. Both the rose symbol that took up most of the space, but the inscription as well:

_Summer Rose_

_Thus Kindly I Scatter_

Deciding to take his leave, Silver finished off the can and withdrew a water bottle. He filled the can up to the halfway point before withdrawing three roses from the bag as well. One rose was a pure, stainless white, another was a bright red, and the third was a deep crimson color.

He inserted the roses into the opening of the can, remembering how often he had done the same thing before at his grandfather's grave. He then set the can down and packed some snow around it to make sure it didn't fall over. Standing back up, he admired the roses then turned to walk back to his motorcycle, shooting any Grimm that got in his way.

* * *

**Silver's POV**

**An hour later**

It had been a while since I had taken _Silver Storm_ out for a ride, and I enjoyed it for all it was worth. Unfortunately, the location I was driving to was not the best place for a joyride. I was going to Signal Academy, the combat school that Ruby and Yang had gone to, for an appointment I had set up with one of the teachers there. I wasn't entirely excited about stepping foot inside that campus, mostly because Yang and Ruby told me that official Hunters and Huntresses, along with students at Beacon, were celebrities at the school. This didn't exactly have me in the greatest mood as I really didn't want that kind of attention.

Nevertheless, I agreed to meet the teacher in their office today at two-thirty. I really hoped that classes were out for the day when I got there, but I kind of doubted it.

* * *

After another ten minutes of driving, I arrived at the school and parked my bike. I was starting to grow a little bit suspicious of the time this teacher had given me since the parking lot was still mostly full. I went to the main office and checked in to make sure they knew why I was there and get directions to his classroom. They gave me a pass along with the directions to his class, which I thanked them for before going on my way.

As I walked through the halls of the school, I passed several students who were obviously on their way back to class. Each and every one of them got a look of awe in their eyes. Most of them admired my weapons and armor, while a few others who were bolder than the rest, actually asked for an autograph, which I grudgingly agreed to.

* * *

Nine students, and three autographs later, I finally arrived at the correct classroom. Instead of simply walking in, I knocked on the door, just in case I was interrupting a lesson, which I was relatively sure I wasn't as the guy had probably written me into the lesson from what I guessed, and seeing who he was related to, I really shouldn't be all that surprised if he did.

The door opened to reveal a tall, Caucasian man, who I must admit, was very impressively muscled. His eyes were a lilac color, and he had short, bright yellow hair. In short, he was like a much older male version of Yang. This was Professor Tai-Yang Xiao Long.

The moment his lilac eyes saw me, his face broke out into a very familiar looking mischievous grin. I inwardly groaned, knowing that all of my predictions were probably about to come true.

"Well hello there! Just the man I was hoping to see right about now!" he said, motioning for me to come in as he went back to the center of the room.

I just took my sunglasses off and surveyed the class in front of me. There were around 30 to 40 kids in here. Many were only half paying attention to what the Professor was saying as they had taken to sizing me up, mostly in awe of someone who shows so much combat experience.

"As I told you all earlier today," Tai-Yang said, "I have a special treat for you all! Today you are going to be able to see how skilled a simple hunter-in-training can be! Now, Mr. Aurelius here will be demonstrating certain skills of his, including his marksmanship, swordsmanship, and how he is able to effectively use his semblance in battle!"

I felt myself let off a spark of annoyance, which some of the more observant students noticed, he had obviously been talking to Ozpin about my skills and weapons as I had never mentioned anything about them. I was going to have a long talk with Ozpin later, and maybe I'd steal the coffee from the teacher's lounge, that would teach him to give out my information.

I put my bag down in the corner and walked over to him. "What would you like to start with?" I asked him, while pretending to address the class. I gave a small smile, showing off in front of the younger kids was a lot of fun after all.

"How about we start with a speed and accuracy demonstration?" he asked.

I shrugged and put my hands by my sides, ready to draw my revolvers as he withdrew six small clay targets.

"Let's see just how fast and accurate you can really be, Silver."

I just nodded.

"Alright, on the count of three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

I tensed, my reflexes about to kick in.

"Three!" he shouted as he threw the six targets through the air, sending them in all different directions.

As fast as lightning, I had drawn both of my revolvers and, barely taking time to aim, had turned all six targets to dust. I then re-holstered my weapons and waited, raising an eyebrow at the Professor as if to say, 'Is that all you've got?'

The entire class seemed shocked at this performance that took less than two seconds to complete. Even Tai-Yang seemed at a loss for words.

Then the entire class burst into applause, many of the students I had made out to be the more intelligent of the group applauding while still trying to comprehend exactly how I had done that in such a short amount of time.

"Well done Silver! It seems that Professor Ozpin was understating it when he said you were a quick shot. On to swordsmanship!"

He pressed a button on his desk and a training droid appeared with it's sword hands at the ready.

"Just so you know, Silver, I've set this droid's program to its hardest difficulty, so don't be afraid to use any _special_ techniques you may have. You're going to need them."

I smirked, he had no idea just how quickly this would be over. I drew my swords and silently started charging them with my semblance, careful not to let them spark just yet, lest it give me away.

Tai-Yang gave me the same countdown as before and the match started as soon as he activated the training droid. I let the droid take the first few moves as I casually parried each strike. After about a minute, I decided that I had had enough and allowed my swords to freely display their lightning-charged blades, drawing looks of awe from the students watching and a smirk from Tai-Yang. I lunged at the droid and sliced it cleanly down and across the middle with my duel-wielding technique, and sheathing my swords as the parts fell to the ground.

As the class erupted in applause once again, Tai-Yang spoke once more, saying, "That, I must say, is one of the most impressive things I've seen in a little while. Would you be so kind as to talk about your semblance a little bit and how it helps you in battle?"

I nodded to him before facing the class, who was now giving me their undivided attention.

"Before I start, who here has unlocked their semblance?"

Roughly half of the class raised their hands.

"Okay, now how many of you have what can be considered as an elemental semblance?"

Every hand except for one went down. A girl in the back still had her hand raised.

I pointed at her and said, "What is your semblance?"

She was a little shocked to have been singled out but answered, "Water manipulation."

"_Interesting,"_ I thought, but left that for later.

"Well, much like her, I can manipulate a certain 'element'. My semblance is lightning manipulation," I said, gaining excited whispers from them, I continued, "The differences I can guarantee between me and her are few, but great. You see, if someone such as me puts enough work into training their semblance, they can create certain techniques that will be extremely useful in battle."

I raised my fist and willed lightning to cover it.

"This kind of technique is one of the many I have developed. This helps me deal a great amount of damage in an amount of time where I might not be able to draw a weapon."

I then disappeared in a flash of lightning, and reappeared at the back of the classroom.

"This can help if I ever need to make a quick escape or entry, as well as speed around an opponent to disorient them as I attack."

I then started walking back up to the front of the classroom, observing the students as I walked by.

"There is one technique that I have, however, that I have never seen any hunter use before, and that's what makes me special. I have a technique that combines all of the others into one, but for now, I'll keep that name a secret." This caused the class to groan in disappointment.

"But," I said, "I will show you the biggest sign that indicates this specific technique. It's something that allows me to boost the strength of both my semblance and aura."

At this point, I now had a very attentive professor nearby as well.

"To demonstrate this, I'm going to need some lightning Dust. A vial, a bottle, even a weapon cartridge would do. Anyone got something?"

A boy in one of the middle rows withdrew a small vial and raised it. I walked over and took it. I pulled the cork out and sniffed it, drawing nervous looks from many in the room; fortunately, I knew what I was doing.

"Custom-made Schnee blend?" I asked the boy.

He nodded nervously.

I smiled. "My favorite."

I walked back up to the front, ignoring the confused look that the boy gave me.

"This ability requires that I absorb lightning or electricity in some form. Of course, the easiest way to do this is to get a hold of some lightning Dust. It simply touching me will cause it to be absorbed into me, but it takes longer for it to come into effect that way. So, the easiest way for it to come into effect immediately, is to do this."

I then took the vial of Dust, and downed it. Everyone was now looking at me as if I were insane. I waited, and then I started to see many confused looks.

"If you can feel the pressure that's building up in the room, that would be me. My power probably just doubled from that small amount of Dust."

I then took aim at one of the training dummies in the corner, and fired a bolt of lightning. When the smoke cleared, The upper half of the dummy was completely gone.

"And that was me holding back because I'd rather not destroy the classroom," I said casually.

Before anyone could say anything, the bell signaling the end of class rang, prompting many of the students to gather their supplies, and many of them to surround me, asking questions and requesting autographs. I patiently dealt with them until they were all finally gone.

* * *

Tai-Yang was sitting at his desk with an amused look on his face.

"You know," I said, "if I didn't know your daughter, I would have honestly been surprised by the fact that you dragged me into that."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well… your timing was very convenient, they've been losing heart lately and I needed something to help them continue to work hard."

"I'm glad to help," I said.

"So…" he said, becoming more serious, "Before we get to whatever you and Ozpin wanted to discuss with me, would you mind telling me how you were able to do all of that?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that I've only met five other people with that kind of natural ability for combat and aura and semblance manipulation. One has been missing for years, one is on a mission at the moment, two teach at Beacon, and the last one is dead."

I stayed silent.

"So I want you to tell me how someone who has only had about six months of formal training is already more skilled than some official huntsmen." He leaned in closer, "Who trained you, outside of Ozpin and Goodwitch?"

I sighed. "The answer to that is kind of what I was here to talk to you about. As to if they trained me, no, they didn't, but genetics is an impressive thing wouldn't you say?"

This got a very surprised reaction from the middle-aged man. From the look in his eyes, I could tell that he was struggling to figure out what I meant, and who I was talking about. I seriously doubted he would figure it out, so while he was thinking, I walked back over to my bag, picked it up, and brought it over to the desk.

I set the bag on the desk, snapping him out of his thoughts. He was eyeing the bag warily, knowing that there was something in here that he was going to see.

"You probably won't believe me when you hear what I'm about to tell you. I would be surprised if you did, because I'm still shocked from the revelation."

He narrowed his eyes at me, knowing I was going down a road with this that he wouldn't like.

"You might be angry with me when I'm done. You might even try to kill me, but that doesn't change the fact that everything I'm about to tell you is completely true."

He sat still, attention solely on me, so I continued.

"You mentioned that were only a handful of others who had such skill at an early age. There are two children of one of those people who share that natural affinity for combat."

He now looked confused, as he didn't seem to know of any of them having _two_ children.

"One of them is me," I said, "and the other… is Ruby."

I could practically see the pieces falling into place inside his head. I could feel the temperature in the room go up as he started to realize what I had just said.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, obviously hoping that he had misheard me.

"You know what I'm talking about, you're just denying it. I am a son of Summer Rose."

He jumped from his seat at this. "She didn't have a son! She didn't even have any affairs before she met me! Explain how you can be older than Ruby, but still be her son! She's dead."

I calmly replied, "That's true. Summer Rose is gone from this world, but I am her son for one very simple, but also very complicated reason."

"And that reason would be?" he asked.

"Space-time inter-dimensional travel."

This had the effect of calming him almost immediately. At this point, he was just looking a little miffed, but mostly sad.

"What's your proof?"

"I have two pieces of evidence. The first one explains why I'm here, and implies what happened to her. The other piece is the most solid evidence you could possibly ask for."

I then opened my bag and withdrew the letter she had written to me. I handed it to him, and he took it. He started reading it, and multiple emotions played across his face, and I could tell he was holding back his tears.

"I don't really need any more evidence, this is her handwriting," he said, "but the other piece of evidence you had was her cloak, wasn't it?"

I nodded, and pulled the cloak out of my bag, handing it to him. Tai-Yang held it up, and completely out of his super carefree and manly character, hugged it.

I smiled lightly at the sight. Mom sure did have good taste, tough when needed, and caring all-around.

After a couple minutes, he pried himself away from the cloak and handed it back to me.

"Here," he said, smiling at me, "you're the oldest living Rose, so I do believe that this belongs to you."

"I don't know about that sir," I told him, "but if I can give this back to Ruby without messing up the timeline and struggles that help her grow, I will."

He nodded. "That brings me to two more things. The first, I would really appreciate it if you would make sure to watch over your 'younger sister', and second, I would like to know how you know so much about this world, and how you seemingly know what's going to happen."

I weighed the merits of my responses to him about that second part, as far as I knew, it wasn't likely that he would be appearing in RWBY any time within the next few months, so I decided to tell the truth, which, admittedly, he did kind of deserve.

"I'll keep an eye on her, but I'll keep my distance, she has Yang already, and I can't allow her to know about my relationship with her for the foreseeable future."

He shrugged, and gave a slight nod of approval.

"As for the second part… Well, I don't think you'll believe me."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Try me."

"Alright then," I said, "Well, I come from another dimension, and as such, we have a differently built history and culture from this one. Getting to the point, one man at an internet based production company had an idea for a new show he wanted to make, he called this show RWBY."

He motioned for me to go on, showing no surprise, meaning he didn't know the name of his two daughter's team.

"This show was about four girls in their first year of training to become defenders of the world… and Ruby is the main character."

This time, he was showing mild shock on his face.

Recovering slightly, he asked, "So, what you're saying is that in your world, ours is fiction?"

"Yep."

"How is that possible?"

"Multiple universe theory."

"Explain."

"Basically, there are supposedly multiple universes, which makes it entirely possible for someone to imagine another one quite accurately."

"Alright then," he said.

It was my turn to be shocked. "You're taking this a lot better than I expected…"

"Son, I just found out that my late wife isn't actually dead. I'd say that my capacity for shock has been reached."

"Alright then. Well, I have plans for later, so I'll see you later Professor Xiao Long," I said, walking towards the door.

"Call me 'Mr.' or Tai-Yang. You're not one of my students, but you calling me 'Dad' would also be weird."

I nodded and continued to the door.

"And Silver?" he said, causing me to turn to look at him, "If you ever want to talk, my door is always open. I bet world-hopping comes with its share of home-sickness."

I gave him a smile. "I'll do that sir, thanks."

And with that, I walked out of the room, down the hall, and made my way back to my bike, back to Beacon.

**That one took a lot of planning, scrubbing plans, rewriting, scrubbing those, and then finally settling on a good piece. Sorry it took so long! I've received several great OC submissions from you guys, and I like a lot of the thought being put into them, big and small. Winner will probably be announced around chapters 16 or 17, due to the time it takes to write this stuff.**

**And how 'bout that Semblance description? Bet you guys can't figure out where I got the idea!**

**Don't forget to leave a review with story suggestions, and follow for more!**

**I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	17. A Fox's Shadow

**This chapter wasn't entirely planned. It was spur of the moment, just like the Valentine's Day chapter. As such, I am pushing the deadline for OC submissions again. Thank you all for your submissions, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Aria Foxy belongs to Oathkeeper0317 in RWBY: The Assassin.**

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins." –Ulysses S. Grant

* * *

**Chapter 14: A Fox's Shadow**

**Normal POV**

Indigo Cole wasn't having the greatest of days. Today, instead of helping Roman with his robberies, he was forced to do a bunch of errands for Cinder. Indigo would always screw around with Roman, Emerald, and Mercury, but he would never go as far he did with them with Cinder. She let off an air of power that surpassed his own, albeit by a fraction. That didn't mean he wanted to try to push his luck.

Most of the jobs consisted of tying up loose ends or doing recon for a future robbery. The current 'errand' he was doing for Cinder was investigating a strange energy signature that had appeared at one of their safe houses. Cinder and Roman had had everything cleared from the area so now all that was left was to see if he could find the source. He knew this was going to be _another_ boring job.

* * *

After a long walk and free running across rooftops, he had finally arrived at the deserted warehouse. He brought out the scanner that Roman had given him and started searching for the source of the energy signal. When he found the spot the signal originated from, he was surprised to see that the readings were weaker than when they had been originally recorded, meaning that it wasn't Dust. Weird.

He was about to turn back when the scanner started beeping in alarm. The energy readings were now off the charts, and he couldn't see where they were-

Suddenly, a flash of red light engulfed the room, forcing him to jump back and try to regain his vision.

After a few seconds, he was finally able to fully regain his vision, and looked around the room.

At first, nothing seemed to have changed, then he noticed a figure nearby just getting to their feet.

"_Maybe this'll be an exciting job after all,"_ he thought.

He sized up the figure in front of him.

They appeared to be a female fox Faunus. She had orange hair and green eyes, with her orange fox ears sticking out. The thing that struck him as most surprising was her clothing. From the looks of it, she had a simple button up Assassin robe that was colored a dark red and orange. Along with this, she had white pants and brown knee-high boots.

He was honestly hoping that it was just some strangely dressed member of the White Fang, maybe a high level operative, but he was proved wrong as soon as he saw the Assassin symbol on her belt and gauntlets.

"_Well, might as well bring her in,"_ he thought.

He stepped forward, not drawing a weapon just yet, and said, "I'm sorry, but you're not supposed to be here. I'd like you to come with me and meet my employer so that we can… talk."

She turned her gaze to him. Her gaze was calculating, but there was a spark of excitement as well. "Yeah? How about you tell me where I am, and who you work for first."

This was going south fast, and she appeared to see that too, but how?

"Well," he said, trying to gain control of the situation, "You are on the property of my employer who I cannot name as they would prefer to remain unnamed unless met personally."

"Really?" She said, "This place doesn't look like it's owned by anyone, and your employer sounds very suspicious for leaving this place in such a state." Now she was smiling, knowing she was right.

Realizing there was no way he was going to be regaining control of the situation, he decided to play with her head a little bit. "You know, I wasn't aware that there was an Assassin brotherhood on Remnant."

She was about to reply about it being a secret organization, before it dawned on her that he seemed to know a lot more than he let on. "How do you know about it?"

He actually laughed at that. "I know more about its history and the histories of the most famous Assassins than you could possibly imagine!"

Now she was nervous. How could anyone outside of the Assassins know the role they had played in history, maybe not as much on Remnant, but in another?

"Great, now I'm doing something similar to what GRAY did a couple months ago. Amazing," she muttered. Indigo was just able to hear her.

"Oh, so you've heard about stuff like this happening before huh?" he asked.

"I have, and in every story I heard about it, they were sent there to test each other's strength," she said, reaching to the back of her belt.

"So to send you back, we have to fight and see who wins. Am I right?"

"You are, shall we?" she asked.

Indigo drew his tomahawks. Maybe today wasn't as bad as he had first thought. "Let's go!" he shouted.

* * *

As they each ran forward, Indigo kept an eye on her hands, which hadn't come from behind her back yet. Just as he was about to hit her with a spinning slash of his tomahawks, her hands, which now had claw-like gauntlets, came forward at a speed that showed lots of practice. He slipped into the shadows at the last second in order to dodge and throw her off balance.

She almost fell from all of the forward momentum that hadn't met anything. She looked around and saw Indigo behind her.

"How did you do that?" she asked, frustrated.

"Trade secret," he replied simply.

She was now slightly ticked. Indigo had been hoping for that.

She charged him again, and just as she was about to hit him, he dissipated into the shadows. Now she was positively growling in anger. She saw movement in the shadows and fired bullets from her gauntlets. Some had hit their mark apparently, as she heard a grunt of pain, and the subsequent reappearance of Indigo.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Indigo grumbled.

Now it was her turn to attack. While he was on the ground, Aria sent out her senses to the random scraps of metal and sent them forward, using her metal-manipulation semblance to guide it all towards Indigo, who was still recovering.

The metal caught the teen by surprise, and he was too shocked to do anything as it started surrounding him and fusing together, making a ball of metal around him. There were loud thuds and bangs coming from the inside, meaning he was trying to get out.

Aria then used her semblance to lift the ball into the air and started to spin it quickly around. Once it was at a decently fast speed, she dropped it to the ground, the crash making it fall apart. She went forward to investigate and found that Indigo wasn't there.

Just then, she felt a hard force kick her forward from behind.

"That really was good, I'm impressed by the thinking on that trap. There was one problem however, as long as there is a shadow, I can get out of any trap you have."

Both of them were tired, having both been given a decent beating from the other. They charged for one last attack, both of them shooting their firearms as they ran. Their Auras took the brunt of the attacks, then as they drew closer to one another, they switched to melee attacks and as they passed each other, Indigo spun on the spot and slashed her several times, while Aria hit him as many times as she could in vital areas.

Once they stood a few paces from each other, the attacks physical damage and pain showed. Indigo's vest jacket and shirt was torn, while Aria's Assassin armor was almost completely shattered. Indigo was clutching his sides from his injuries, about to keel over, but Aria beat him to it, she was in a lot of pain, but it was already subsiding due to her Aura healing her.

Indigo walked over to her and took out one of his wrist-mounted crossbows. Instead of shooting her however, he dropped it next to her. She took it and read the inscription carved into it.

* * *

_Fighting from the shadows- for real._

_-Indigo Cole_

* * *

"Is this… your name?" Aria asked.

"It is."

She sighed and felt herself starting to fade, literally. "I'm Aria Foxy. Let's fight again sometime."

Indigo smirked. "We'll see if that can happen."

"See you later," she said, and then she was gone.

* * *

Indigo walked out of the warehouse a few minutes later and called Torchwick.

"Yeah, Torchwick?" he said.

He listened to the questions on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, the warehouse is clear."

"No, it was just an inter-dimensional travelling Faunus."

He was now listening to an angry reply and laughter, probably Mercury and Emerald, in the background.

"Yes, Torchwick, I'm serious. I'll show you the evidence of the awesome fight we had when I get back."

He grinned at the low, almost inaudible muttering from the orange-haired man.

"I heard that Roman, I will be showing you how bad ass I am when I get back," he finished and hung up, starting back towards the main warehouse.

* * *

**So what'd you guys think? Awesome or what? Yes, Indigo is one of those guys who will fool with others for fun.**

**So, OC submissions will be accepted until future notice. Assuming the next two or three chapters go up as planned, then chapter 17 will probably be the deadline.**

**Again, Aria Foxy belongs to Oathkeeper0317, along with Team GRAY as she mentioned them in the chapter. They appear in RWBY: The Assassin.**

**Stay cool, and I'll see you guys… Next time!**


	18. First Contact

**I'm back guys! This chapter and the following one or two (most likely two) are the culmination of a lot of planning and double-checking continuity. I've also been working on other projects, one of which have already come out and should be seen on my profile. I have other projects in planning, namely one I have the co-writers working on at the moment. These new projects will be released in the next month or so. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

Unity is strength... When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. – Mattie Stepanek

* * *

**Chapter 15: First Contact**

**Silver's POV**

I was blown back by the wind of the Grimm's attack. We wouldn't hold out much longer. Yang was getting back up, and she had started taking shots with her gauntlets while Ruby and Rowan aimed for vital areas and chinks in its armor. It wouldn't be enough. The only way to beat this thing was if I used it, but that would take a lot of energy I didn't have. Unless… Weiss! If she didn't have what I needed, we were doomed; I just had to get to her…

* * *

**12 Hours Earlier…**

**Normal POV**

All was calm in Beacon Academy. Students were in their dorms or in the library relaxing or studying. Team JNPR was doing some studying in their dorm, Nora having been promised pancakes when they were done. Ruby and Weiss were also studying in their dorm room while Yang was on her bunk, relaxing, with Blake just below her, reading a book.

Team SABR had finished their homework and studying and was now playing a quiet game of cards in Rowan and Bai's room.

Each member was eyeing the others in an effort to see what the other was thinking. Their hands were getting smaller, and each of them was mostly looking at Silver, who only had one card left.

After a short time, Ash put down a queen of diamonds and said, "Last card."

All eyes were now on Silver as he just looked at the card Ash had put down. He slowly lifted the card in his hand to look at it and then reached for the deck.

Upon seeing the relieved looks on the rest of his team's faces, he pulled his hand back and put down his last card, an ace of diamonds, on top of the pile.

"Mau," he said.

Ash, Rowan, and Bai all sighed and threw their remaining cards on the table. He had won… Again.

"Seriously dude? How do you keep doing that?" Ash asked, looking a little miffed.

"Just a lucky day I guess…" Silver replied.

"I'd go more for the idea that you're cheating somehow," Bai said.

"Who? Me? Come on Bai, you know me! Do I look like I would cheat?" Silver asked with an air of drama.

Bai stayed silent.

"You know, I'd support that idea if you ever took your cards out of our sight, but you just leave them on the table, so if you are cheating, you sure are good at it," Rowan said.

"Thank you!" Silver shouted.

Before anymore could be said, all four of their Scrolls went off with their different tones and music. They all quickly picked them up and read their messages. Realizing they had all received the same message, they ran out of the room towards Ozpin's office, running into Team RWBY on the way. They all continued running, the urgency and suddenness of the message going out to all of them causing them to go as fast as possible and not ask questions just yet.

* * *

Upon arriving at Ozpin's office, the teams immediately knew something was up. Instead of his normally expressionless expression, Ozpin looked a like he hadn't slept for a while. On top of that, his entire body language screamed bad news.

Once everyone had entered, Ozpin stood up and turned on a holographic screen displaying a map.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here on such short notice," Ozpin said, "The reason for this sudden call is a Grimm attack a couple hours North of the city, in a small village called Visegrád."

A small dot showed the location of the village on the map.

"Normally, we would send a team of Huntsmen to search for survivors and bring them to the city… This is not a normal situation. The inhabitants of this village are presumed dead because of the image that we received shortly before the village went dark."

The map was replaced by a blurry image of a large, winged Grimm. Silver took note of the shape of this Grimm and twitched when he started realizing what it could be.

Ozpin continued, "We have little information on this Grimm and are unsure of how old it is, or if it is a new type of Grimm. What we do know, is that it was powerful enough to take down the village in under an hour."

Weiss spoke up at this. "Why are you telling us this sir?"

Ozpin sighed. "I want to send your two teams in to investigate the village. We would send in a team of official Huntsmen, but they're all out on other missions, and your two teams together have the best potential to get in and out alive, given your variety of skills…" He said the last part and took a quick glance at Silver, who met it.

He concluded the briefing with, "You have two hours to prepare your weapons, armor, and supplies and eat a quick meal before your airship leaves. Good luck."

They then left to go get ready for their mission. Silver, however, stayed behind.

"Anything you'd like to tell me that couldn't be said while the others were here?" Silver asked.

Ozpin looked into Silver's eyes for a moment.

"You know, despite supposedly looking more like your father, you sure do take after your mother in some respects."

Silver stayed silent, waiting for an answer.

Ozpin sighed. "Yes, there is one more detail I took into account when searching for a group to send in. It was your _special_ skill you use in conjunction with your semblance and to boost its effects. I overheard you and Mr. Winters talking about it, and decided to keep an eye on you. The thing that sealed the deal was when Tai-Yang called me and told me about your demonstration of a particular part of your skill in his class."

"Then am I correct in thinking that you thought my skill was perfect for this mission?" Silver asked.

"You are."

"Thank you for answering my question. I'll see you later Professor." Silver said as he went through the door.

Ozpin sat for a moment before saying to himself, "He truly is like you, Summer, and I can only hope that he doesn't die before he is done here."

* * *

**Five Hours Later**

**Visegrád, Northern Vale**

**Silver's POV**

To say that the village was decimated would be an understatement. If the buildings weren't completely demolished, they were either burning or half-gone. Cars, weapons, and debris littered the streets. We walked down the main street of the large village, and I avoided looking at the gore on the ground. I may be tough, but I still don't like to look at the dead or mutilated if I don't have to. I leave that to the soldiers and psychopaths.

There was one thing that seemed to be missing here however. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Where are all the Grimm?" Ruby asked.

That was it. There were no Grimm anywhere to be seen. Sure, it had been a while since the attack, but there should at least be at least one Beowolf still around. Instead, the entire area was deserted and quiet.

"We need to search for survivors," Weiss said.

We all nodded in agreement. That was our primary job as Huntsmen, and Huntresses, in training. Investigating the cause of this destruction could be done during the search.

We split into pairs to find survivors, on person from each team to a pair, at Ruby and Weiss' insistence.

The pairs became Ruby and Rowan, Weiss and Ash, Blake and myself, and Yang and Bai.

We each took a cardinal direction from the center of town to look for survivors and clues to the identity of the Grimm that had done this.

* * *

**Bai's POV**

Yang and I took the southern area of the village. This area seemed to be in the best condition, leading me to believe that there was at least one survivor in the midst of this destruction.

We went from building to building, searching every room and closet, finding nothing.

At the edge of the village, we were about to turn back when we heard a harsh, labored cough sound from one of the nearby buildings.

We quickly lifted the debris from the entryway to find a middle-aged man with what looked like a sniper-halberd lying next to him.

Upon seeing us enter, his eyes locked onto us.

"You look... a bit young… to be here… after what… just happened…" he said.

"We're the best Beacon has to offer at the moment. Other Huntsmen are out on other missions and couldn't make it."

His eyes filled with a form of pity mixed with sorrow.

"You shouldn't have come," he said.

"What happened here?" Yang asked.

He seemed to be remembering everything that had transpired before he said, "A Grimm that has not been seen in a very, very long time appeared almost out of nowhere. One minute, everything was fine, the next, we were fighting for our lives. Such power it had… I would rather take on a Goliath by myself than have had to fight it, but here I am…"

"We're going to get you out of here," Yang said as she stepped forward, only to have the man hold his hand up to stop her.

"I would only get in the way, and if that _thing_ comes back, that could get you killed. Besides, my Aura has done all it can; I'm out of the fight and fading quickly. Don't protest, your friend can sense it; I can see it in his eyes." He looked me directly in the eye at this.

I reached out with my semblance over light and checked his Aura reserves. They were completely empty and not refilling at all.

"He's right Yang, his Aura isn't regenerating at all, he's lucky to have made it this long."

Yang didn't look at all happy, while the man just looked resigned.

He dug into his back pocket and held a card out to Yang.

"Take this for me will you? Your headmaster is going to need it to make sure my death is recorded properly. If you want to, ask for it back when he's done with it. I don't care. It's what's in the cabinet over there that really needs to be passed on."

We looked at the indicated cabinet. It was a Forever Fall wood cabinet with decorative trees and flower petals carved into it.

He looked at me and said, "Open it."

I walked over to the cabinet, and with a small amount of hesitation, opened it, gasping at what I saw.

Inside was the most magnificent bow I have ever seen. It was a pitch-black re-curve, with ornate white decoration. It also seemed to have some sort of mechanism in the handle. I pressed it, and heard the nearby quiver whir a little bit. Just before looking at the quiver, I noticed one word inscribed in the handle of the bow:

_Archer_

"_How appropriate,"_ I thought.

I then lifted the quiver, but just before I could investigate the contents, the Hunter spoke from behind me.

"Careful with that, my former partner used to experiment with different types of Dust-infused arrows. One bad shake and that thing could explode."

I honestly couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Now go on and take it, it's of no use to anyone just sitting there. You need to go find the rest of your group and get out of here before it's too late. Get going and don't worry about me. I didn't become a Hunter to have a long and comfy life."

After one final look at the dying Hunter, we left to look for the others.

I looked at the bow that was still in my hand, and wondered if I had just taken a silent vow without knowing it. Either way, this Grimm wasn't going to find anyone here if it came back.

* * *

**Silver's POV**

Apparently, the northern area of Visegrád was the most effected. We found quite a bit of evidence of what had happened after only ten minutes. Gigantic footprints like small craters, and worst of all, the silhouettes of the people who burned from some sort of intense heat. After that little scene, Blake and I mostly tried to search for survivors.

We also took it as a time to ask each other a few questions to keep our minds off the scene of those silhouettes.

There was one question in my mind that I really wanted to ask her, but knew she wasn't going to like, even if she would forgive me for it, and quite possibly be better off afterwards. It also didn't help that I partially knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from her.

I finally gathered my thoughts and asked, "So, Blake… Why do you cover your ears with the bow?"

She visibly stiffened at the question.

"I don't know what you mean," she replied.

"Blake," I said, "It's okay, I've known since the second week of school." That was a lie, but I didn't need her getting suspicious of me.

At that, she rounded on me in shock. "You knew for that long?"

I shrugged. "I'm surprised your team never noticed. Your bow twitched quite a few times during those first couple weeks."

She sighed. "So why aren't you hating me, or even telling my team?"

"I have nothing against Faunus, there's been too much violence already for it to matter anymore, each side has just as much blood on their hands as the other. I didn't tell your team because it was none of my business, besides, Ash and I were worried about how Weiss would react."

She flinched. "Ash knows too?"

I nodded. "My entire team knows. They're just as perceptive as I am."

"And they aren't going to tell anyone?"

"Like I said, not our business who knows or not, but here's some advice, tell your team before they find out in the wrong way."

We continued walking in silence, and I wasn't entirely sure if I had just changed the timeline or not. I hoped to God I had.

Just then, my Scroll rang. I looked at it and saw that Bai was calling.

* * *

**A Few Minutes Later**

Blake and I ran up to see that everyone else had already made it to the center of the village. Bai had called all of us and told us that we had to get out of here as soon as possible. He had spoken with a dying Hunter about what had happened and had found that this was Grimm more powerful than a Goliath.

"How far out is the Bullhead?" I asked as we ran up.

"The pilot said about an hour. Let's hope he makes it, it's almost sundown," Ash said.

"Crap," Rowan muttered.

"Guys," I said after a moment of silence, "I have a suspicion of what the Grimm could be…"

"What're you thinking Silver?" Yang asked.

"Well… based on what Bai found out about the attack, along with the clues Blake and I found, I think it could be a-"

Before I could say anything else, a huge, ear-splitting roar was heard. I paled. I was right.

The sound of flapping wings reached my ears. I turned in its direction and saw my suspicions come true.

It was the one Grimm that hadn't been seen in half a millennia. It's white bone mask with a long, sword-like horn, it's pure-black scales, and the bone-like protrusions on its back. It was exactly like its description in the old Grimm-studies book I had found. One of the most feared Grimm of all time.

The Drakon.

* * *

**And that's the end of the chapter! OC submissions are going through the process of being judged at the moment and the results will be announced either next chapter, or the chapter after that.**

**Until then, last chance for late submissions! **

**I'll see you guys, next time!**


	19. Visegrád Firefight

**Not much to say at the moment. Just a reminder that the next chapter will most likely be the one where I announce the OC contest winner, other than that, nothing. Enjoy!**

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present." – Francis Bacon

* * *

**Chapter 16: Visegrád Firefight**

**Silver's POV**

I dodged to the side as the Drakon took another swipe at me. This had been going on for a while now. I was keeping the large Grimm's attention while everyone else tried to do some real damage.

I started running in a semicircle, firing my revolvers as I went, trying to find a soft spot. I slid under its arm as it slashed again from the front. We were getting nowhere with this.

Weiss was attempting to keep it from moving too much with her Glyphs, but they were failing at an uncomfortable rate.

Bai was using some Dust-infused arrows in an attempt to see if it had a weakness to a certain kind of Dust.

Ruby and Rowan were searching for any chinks it may have in its bony armor. I could hear their shots in the background of what I was doing and knew that they had to have a lucky break at some point.

Yang was firing off rounds from her gauntlets to keep it at least somewhat off-balance. At the very least she was making sure it couldn't take my head off with a lucky shot.

Blake was mostly watching my back. She didn't have the same kind of effective range attack as the others and we didn't need her getting injured during this fight. She jumped in if I moved too slowly to dodge or aimed for the eyes with her pistol to keep it off me for a couple seconds.

This strategy went on for a few more minutes without incident, a few close calls, but no serious injuries to speak of.

That is of course, until it caught me off guard and hit me in the back as I jumped over its claw as it slashed again.

"Silver!" Blake called.

I rolled over to see the Drakon looking at me. The most unnerving part was the fact that it was actually looking me in the eye. In those green eyes, I saw one thing that told its age and difference from other Grimm. It was intelligent. The Drakon had learned from past battles and knew the best way to kill us off, all it had to do was lure us into a false sense of security by letting us carry out a plan to try to take it down.

The worst part… I could tell it was holding back, it was playing with us, and this may be my final moment, just looking into those green eyes.

It opened its mouth and I saw red and green flames forming at the back of its throat and come billowing towards me.

All of a sudden, when the flames were halfway towards me, time seemed to slow down. It wasn't like some of the moments I would feel when I would have an adrenaline rush. This felt… different. As the flames were about to come within range of me feeling the scorching heat, a figure with a sword appeared in front of me and stabbed his sword into the ground, causing a wall of ice to form, blocking the flames from reaching me.

The figure took their sword out of the ground and turned halfway to me, head tilted back, trench coat and tie billowing in the wind.

"Long time, no see Silver," he said, just as casually as I had greeted him last time.

"I suppose it's been a little while hasn't it Davin?" I replied, looking around, "Where's Gwyn?"

"Right behind you," a voice said.

I turned and saw the blonde approaching, the red scarf I had given her a couple years ago flowing behind her.

"We were on our way to investigate the village attack, but it looks like you beat us to it," she said.

I smirked. "That's what happens when you go to Beacon. You hear things a little faster than others."

Undeterred by my rebuttal, she continued, "At least you saved the fun part for when we finally arrived."

"Right…" I said, "Thanks for the save. We should get going. The others won't be able to deal with the Drakon by themselves at this rate.

They nodded and we ran out from behind the ice shield. Everyone looked at Davin and Gwyn in surprise, probably wondering where they had come from.

I quickly shouted, "They're with us, no time for explanations. Ruby, Yang, this is Davin and Gwyn."

The two pairs quickly greeted each other before returning their attention to the Drakon.

Gwyn shifted her sword to an assault rifle while Davin let his sword-whip loose.

* * *

After what seemed like a lifetime, we were starting to see some scratches form along its armor. Many of them from Davin's sword and Yang's explosive rounds.

We were slowly tiring the creature out, but we too were starting to get tired, and I worried that we may run out of steam before it went down.

I then noticed something that I should have noticed before. Its underbelly had no armor. I didn't notice before because of all the armor on its back and chest. Even the head, wings, and legs still had heavy armor on them.

Acting in a bit of desperation for a hit to damage it for real, I charged forward in a surge of lightning. I moved at the speed of light to avoid the Drakon's attacks as I made my way under it.

As I reached my target, I drew my swords and charged them with lightning and started slashing its unarmored hide for all it was worth.

The thing I didn't take into account was it swinging its sword-like tail underneath itself to slash me.

The force of the swipe blew me out from under its belly and into a tree. I was dazed for the moment, and all I could do was watch what happened next.

The pain I had inflicted on the beast was enough to make it lash out, breaking Weiss' Glyphs. It then charged the group randomly, catching Ruby off guard. It was about to hit her, and none of us were close enough to stop it, when a swirl of shadows blocked it, and then sent it back to its original position.

My eyes widened when I saw who was standing in front of Ruby.

It was Indigo, looking half annoyed and half bored. His tomahawks were held up in a defensive position.

"Jeez," he said, "You guys really don't invite me to do anything do you? I come up here to look into one of our safe houses going dark and I find all of you getting your butts handed to you by a giant lizard? I thought you were better than that."

Ruby looked a little afraid, and extremely confused at what had just happened.

"Why did you save me?" she asked the older teen.

"Boss didn't say I had to kill anyone, besides there's no cameras here to prove or disprove my interaction with you."

Team RWBY continued to watch him with suspicion while SABR, Gwyn, and Davin started to understand what he was saying.

"You really don't like the work they give you do you?" Ash asked.

"I like to keep my hands clean. Life is so much simpler when you're not wanted for homicide. I do it because my 'employer' wants it done, and I'd rather not piss them off."

"We'll talk about your career issues later. We have a bigger problem to deal with at the moment," Bai said, turning back to the Drakon.

We all nodded in agreement and started sizing it up for more places to exploit for a weakness. Those of us with more effective close range weapons charged it while the long-range fighters kept shooting.

We made it within fifteen yards of the creature when it suddenly took to the air and hovered above us. It started to flap its wings, causing a massive wind, which kept picking up speed until everyone, including those fighting from a distance, was blown back.

I landed flat on my back, almost hitting a tree headfirst. We weren't going to last much longer. Yang was getting back up and taking more shots at the Drakon. Ruby and Rowan had gotten back to trying to find a weak point in the armor. Indigo was trying to make a ball of shadow to hit the creature with while Bai did the same thing with his light. Gwyn was laying down fire with her assault rifle, albeit not doing much, but it was better than nothing.

Everyone else seemed to be out for the moment. At this rate, we were going to get tired out and killed, unless… I used _it_.

"_NO!"_ I thought, _"It's not ready yet!"_

The only problem was, if I didn't try, we were probably going to die anyway.

Even if it wasn't ready, I didn't have enough energy to activate it. Unless we had a bunch of lightning Dust lying around…

That's it! Weiss has all kinds of Dust on her! I needed to find her as fast as possible and see if the others had any lightning Dust on them as well. I was going to need as much as possible.

It was time to play my ace in the hole.

* * *

**That's the end of Chapter 16! Next chapter, the new OC will be announced and a certain technique will be revealed! Please leave a review of what you think the technique is! I've left clues all over the story as to its identity. Comments on what I could do better or what you would like to see are also appreciated! Follows help the morale of those helping with this story, so please follow as well!**

**The light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger, and Volume 1 is almost done.**

**And as another announcement, a new story that a couple of the co-writers have been pushing for is now in production. Not going to give too much away, but it basically deals with what happened with Davin and Gwyn.**

**That said, I'll see you guys… Next time!**


	20. We Are Lightning

**I've been excited for this chapter for a very long time. I've been hinting at this since chapter 3 and I can't believe no one has called me out on it yet! This is going to be great! OC winner will be announced at the end! Enjoy!**

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." – Aristotle Onassis

* * *

**Chapter 17: We Are Lightning**

**Silver's POV**

I was sprinting across the wrecked village, jumping over the debris in an effort to find Weiss as fast as possible. She probably didn't have enough Dust for my needs, so I only hoped the others had some lightning Dust with them as well.

I remembered that while we had originally been trying to replicate the technique, Ash had always carried around a couple spare vials of lightning Dust. I kept my fingers crossed that he still had a couple.

At the moment he was trying to distract it with his built-in guns on his gauntlets, seeing as he can't necessarily be hit by it.

"Ash!" I called.

He didn't even look at me as I ran up, still firing the whole time.

"What?"

"I need you to give me all the lightning Dust you have."

That got his attention enough that he stopped firing and looked at me for a moment.

"You're not doing what I think you're doing are you?" he asked, concern on the edge of his voice.

"Unfortunately, yes, I am."

He sighed in a combination of resignation and relief, taking a couple vials out of a pouch.

"Just don't get yourself killed."

"Will do," I replied and quickly ran off.

I saw Bai firing arrows nearby and went over to him next.

"Bai, how much lightning Dust do you have?" I yelled.

"I've got some arrows infused with it. Why?" he replied.

"Just hold on to them. I'll tell you what to do with them in a bit!" I said quickly. I didn't know how much more time we were going to last, so I had to hurry.

Next thing I knew, Davin had landed right in front of me, bringing his sword down and letting it loose as its sharp edges grinded against the Drakon's armor.

"Sorry Silver, didn't see you there!" He apologized.

"No time for that! Do you have any lightning Dust on you?" I asked.

"Uh… Yeah, I do, why?" he asked, confused.

"I don't have time to explain, I just need as much as you can give me!"

"Right. Here you go," he said, handing over a vial.

"Thanks!"

As I said that, I saw Weiss coming out from some rubble that she must have been blown into a little while ago.

"Weiss!" I shouted, running towards her.

She snapped her attention to me at my urgency.

"What?" she asked, as I got closer.

"I need to know how much lightning Dust you have on you, including whatever's in your rapier," I said.

"Why?" she asked, going slightly on the defensive at the question about her supply.

"I need whatever you have, otherwise we may not all get out of here alive."

To her credit, she didn't question me any further, and started digging through one of her pouches.

"Here, this should help," she said, handing over a few vials, "Now what do you want me to do with the Dust that's already loaded in the chamber?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Hold off on using it for right now. When I give the signal, release all of it directly at me. I'll do the rest."

I once again saw a flicker of curiosity and concern cross her face, and was extremely thankful that she didn't press me with any questions about my plan.

Once I was sure I would have enough Dust to power up, I jumped into the middle of our semi-formation.

"Everyone get back!" I yelled, "Weiss and Bai, prep all of your lightning Dust to be sent to me and wait for my signal, and everybody else needs to concentrate their fire on the Drakon and keep its attention off of us!"

Weiss revolved the chamber of _Myrtenaster_ while Bai drew his new bow and notched a few lightning Dust infused arrows.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Rowan were firing faster than before, while Yang kept the pressure on with her shotgun blasts, and Gwyn, Blake, Ash, and Davin kept striking with guerrilla tactics.

I threw all the Dust I had been given into the air, activating it with my Aura as I did so, causing arcs of electricity to fly through the air. I stretched out my will and took in a long, deep breath, causing the lightning in the air to be absorbed into my body.

After a while, I felt the pressure of the area going up from the power I was gaining, and the power level was still increasing from my intake of lightning.

As I was about to finish absorbing the initial source of lightning, I called for Bai to fire the arrows, and I had soon taken in the Dust from those too.

"Weiss! Launch everything you have right at me!" I shouted.

I saw her twirl her rapier as she pressed down a switch and a torrent of lightning came straight at me. Any normal person would have died from the amount and sheer force of the energy from the resulting explosion. Luckily, I'm not exactly a normal person, and that last amount of lightning was enough to send me over the edge of the power requirement. The only thing left to do was take out the Drakon.

* * *

**Ash's POV**

I slashed at the Drakon's leg again with _Enemy's Bane_ in an attempt to break through the armor covering it. The bone-like armor on this creature was particularly thick, not letting many of our attacks through. I jumped back just as its tail came at me like a whip, almost piercing me with the tip of its tail.

As I landed, I noticed Silver walking toward the Drakon, his body sparking visibly, and his eyes glowing a brilliant electric blue. As he walked, he threw his cloak off and removed a couple pieces of armor, dropping them as he went.

Realizing what he was doing, I called to the others, "Everyone get as far away from the Drakon as possible!"

No one hesitated at the command; they simply fell back as quickly as possible.

Once everyone was clear, Silver disappeared in a small flash of lightning before reappearing right in front of the Drakon. The creature of Grimm attempted to blast him with its red and green flames, but he disappeared once again, this time reappearing above the Grimm. Before it could move out of the way, a large surge of lightning came out of Silver's mouth and collided directly with the Drakon's back, destroying a few patches of the creature's armor.

We watched in awe as Silver essentially went on a rampage against the formidable creature of Grimm, and Team RWBY looked on in shock at Silver's hidden power.

"What is Silver doing?" Weiss asked, apparently not believing her eyes, "I've never seen anyone do anything like what he's doing right now!"

I smirked. "I'm not surprised you haven't seen anything like this, Weiss. The technique he's using hasn't been seen or used for a very long time."

"What is it?" Ruby asked curiously.

"It's a technique that allows him to take on the properties of a dragon. Specifically their endurance, speed, strength, and element, in this case, lightning," I explained.

"That's incredible! What's the technique called?" Yang asked.

I looked at all of those gathered around me, looking mostly at Team RWBY, Gwyn, and Davin. "It's called the Dragon Slaying technique, or more specifically for Silver, Lightning Dragon Slaying."

Silver and I had spent an hour trying to find a cool name that didn't involve the word magic for this technique, and could not find anything better to call it, I thought it didn't sound as cool, but we couldn't have questions about magic being asked, especially since it wasn't technically magic.

"He always was an anime fan…" Gwyn muttered, careful not to let Team RWBY hear.

"Wait, what's he doing now?" Blake asked.

I turned my attention back to Silver to see that he had reappeared right in front of the Drakon again, and he seemed to be preparing another attack.

Suddenly, we all heard him shout, "Lightning Dragon's… Heavenward Halberd!"

He then punched the air and a lightning bolt shaped like a halberd was sent flying strait at the Grimm. It made contact with the creature's chest and shattered the armor, leaving it open to more attacks.

This time, however, he didn't disappear fast enough, and was sent flying by a the Drakon when it struck him with its claw.

The blow sent Silver through the nearby tree line and crashing through multiple trees, causing them to fall over.

"Bai, Indigo, Rowan! Distract it! We'll go check on Silver!" I said, making it clear that I didn't particularly care what they did as long as it worked.

They nodded, and almost as if it were already planned, started forming spheres of their respective attributes, Rowan using his sub-semblance of fire, Bai and Indigo using their light and shadow respectively.

Before I could see what they were going to do with them, the rest of us were quickly running over to wherever Silver had landed among the wreckage of the fallen trees.

* * *

We found him still conscious and shoving a large tree off himself when we arrived. He was sparking madly with electricity all across his body.

When he saw us, he walked over to Blake and I and handed us his holsters with his revolvers inside and his sheathed swords to us.

"Take care of these for me will you? They'll only get in the way now that I'm going to get serious," he said.

"If you weren't serious before, then what were you doing, getting a feel for that things power?" Weiss asked, disbelievingly.

"Yep," Silver said, popping the 'p'.

That silenced most of us for a few seconds.

"I'd suggest you take your time going back over there, Silver," I said, "Let Bai, Rowan, and Indigo have some fun before you annihilate that thing would you?"

As if to prove my point, a large, fiery explosion was seen engulfing half the area and a roar of pain was heard from the center of it.

"I guess it would be interesting to see what those three can do," he said.

* * *

When we had come back to the main battle at the edge of the tree line, we saw that Rowan was shooting the Drakon to keep its attention while Bai and Indigo were finishing their preparations for their attack.

Bai was taking a large sphere of light and slowly shrinking it to a denser state while Indigo did the same with his shadows. When they were both about the size of a golf ball, they held out their respective spheres and fused them together.

It was hard to describe the color of the new sphere of light and shadow. Its color was constantly changing between black, white, grey, and a dull gold.

Upon fusing it, they each held a hand on their respective side of the sphere and threw it forward. Once both of their hands had gone forward, not only did the sphere go forward, but it expanded until was at least a couple stories tall.

The sphere of light and shadow hit the Grimm and caused an even larger explosion than before, causing debris to fly everywhere and taking up almost the entire clearing of what was once Visegrád.

I thought it was over since there didn't seem to be any sound coming from the explosion. No roar of pain or anything, but Silver was frowning for some reason. I figured out why when a gigantic pillar of red and green fire exploded from the top of the explosion, signaling that the Drakon was still very much alive.

As the smoke cleared, I took a step back, along with many of the others, at the look of rage and intelligence the ancient creature of Grimm was showing in its eyes.

Silver walked forward, slowly becoming brighter and brighter from the electricity surrounding his body as he got closer to the Drakon. It got to the point that I had to avert my eyes slightly as he shined a bright blue.

As quickly as he had started glowing, he stopped, and was gone in the blink of an eye.

He reappeared on the Drakon's back and started sending punch after punch into its armor, breaking pieces off with every blow. When it tried to hit him with its tail, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of it.

It opened its mouth and shot its flames directly at him. He opened his mouth and shot a huge torrent of blue lightning right back at it. The lightning cut the flames down the middle and struck the Grimm directly in the face, blowing apart its bone-like mask.

It roared and took a swipe at him with each claw, prompting Silver to dodge and disappear in a flash of lightning again.

"Is he teleporting?" Weiss asked.

"No, he's just travelling near the speed of light, or lightning speed," Bai said.

"I wish I could go that fast…" Ruby muttered.

Silver reappeared right above the Drakon, looking like he was gearing up for one last attack. He looked like he was gathering quite a bit of lightning…

* * *

**Silver's POV**

I was doing some pretty serious damage to the thing, but that didn't mean I wasn't tired or unharmed. I had several scrapes and bruises all over my body along with a particularly nasty cut from the Drakon's claw going down my side.

If I didn't finish this soon, I was probably going to pass out from exhaustion, and I knew just how to do it…

I went straight up above it, knowing exactly what to do, I started gathering as much power as possible into this attack and when I was done charging, released it as I landed dead-center of the Drakon's back.

I released all my built up power, plus some, into my attack as I yelled, "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!"

I brought my fist down onto the creature's back and felt a million volts of lightning pass into it.

The ancient beast roared in pain and rage one last time, then moved no more.

I lifted myself up and hopped down from the Drakon's back, heading towards the others when I found it hard to walk, much less stand. I hit the ground, realizing that I had used a little too much power in my attacks.

I had one last glimpse of everyone before I closed my eyes, and slipped into the black void that is sleep.

* * *

**Let me tell you guys, that chapter took quite a while to plan and write, given it would have been out earlier if I hadn't been so sick last weekend, but there you go. I still can't believe NO ONE called me out on Silver's technique. I was so blatantly obvious with it too! Anyway, I thought this was a great chapter and all that. On to what I'm sure most of you have been waiting for!**

**The OC submission contest! Going to be honest here. It was really hard to choose an OC from the few that were submitted. Before I announce the results, I would like to thank those of you who submitted an OC. They were all really well thought out and I thank you all for the support! Now… without further ado… the winner of the OC submission contest is…**

**madeofshadows!**

**With the one…**

**The Only…**

**Amber Florence!**

**Details on her character will be given at a later time. This is quite the concept for a character. Similar to mine, but unique in its own way.**

**If you would like reasons behind why you didn't win, feel free to message me.**

**I'll See You Guys… Next Time!**


	21. Memory is the Key

**I'd say it's about time I wrapped this arc up nicely, don't you guys? This is the final chapter of the Visegrád arc. Let's get this show on the road!**

"Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory." –Dr. Seuss

* * *

**Chapter 18: Memory is the Key**

**Silver's POV**

I woke up on a warm, flat surface. I could feel the warmth of the sun and its brightness shining down on me. I was tired, I just wanted to rest, so I decided to try to go back to sleep in this nice place.

I was about to drift back off to sleep when I heard someone call out to me in the distance.

"Silver!"

My eyes snapped open to see a bright blue sky with clouds streaking across it. I sat up to find myself in the middle of a grassy field surrounded by trees. A few yards away was a dirt path cutting down the middle of the field. One end split into two paths leading into different parts of the surrounding forest, while the other end went across a stream and up a mountain.

It took me a minute to realize that I recognized this place.

"Been a while since you were last here hasn't it?" a female voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see my mom, Summer Rose, standing there.

She was wearing her typical outfit of black knee-high boots with red laces, dark grey pants, a white blouse, and a black jacket with red trim. Unlike Ruby, who kept her hair short, Summer kept her red and black hair long in a ponytail. Her silver eyes always intensified her "mom" glare, like the gaze she had set on me just now.

"Mom?" I asked, "What am I doing here?"

She chuckled. "You aren't really 'here', Silver. This is a memory, and I'm not really Summer, I'm the representation of your sub-consciousness."

"Okay… then why am I in this memory?" I asked.

She smiled. "Now you're asking the right questions. Why? Well, its because you need to compensate for the amount of power you put off when you used the 'Dragon Slaying' technique."

"How would that trigger something like this?"

"Normally, a technique like that is much more powerful, but because that sort of power is linked to your Aura, and thus your soul, it is required that you learn what you can from your memories to fully unlock your potential. I am here to guide you."

"Alright, then what am I supposed to learn here?"

"Think about where you are. Remember what you did here. Memory is the key, Silver."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you just make an RvB reference?"

"I am your sub-consciousness."

"I guess that makes sense," I said.

She smiled before turning towards the end of the trail leading up the mountain.

"Here you come," she said.

I watched as a group of twelve people, three adults, what I recognized to be a staff member, and eight boys.

"I remember this. This was our first day out!" I said, trying to remember more details.

"It was. It was also one of the rainier days as well, right?" Summer asked.

"It was the second rainiest day out of the eleven."

"Let's move on," she said.

The scene dissolved, and reconstructed itself on a mountainside a few days later.

"This was one of your hardest days, climbing this mountain was a challenging feat after your earlier amount of hiking."

I watched myself as I kept putting one foot in front of the other, never stopping to take a break. Waking up practically at the break of dawn, combined with several miles of hiking and then a climb up the mountain hadn't been pleasant. It was the challenge that made it fun.

"I remember it rained a bit after we reached the top," I said, "It wasn't too bad, but the sunset view afterwards was amazing."

"Indeed."

The scene shifted again, taking us to another mountaintop. The rocks here were white, and what plants there were growing out of the crevices had swarms of ladybugs flying around them.

"This was your last full day on the trail," Summer said.

"I remember. This was our absolute hardest day. Waking up early to make it eleven or twelve miles to our next destination, this mountaintop."

The view from the top was incredible. Facing east, away from the sun, I could see a large white house on the right, while directly in front I could see rows upon rows of tents, showing what I remembered to be base camp.

I watched as my group and I posed for a picture, remembering the good times I had had, and the learning experiences I had gained.

The scene shifted back to the grassy field, and I looked back at my mother, or my sub-consciousness, or whatever.

"Do you understand what this trip and the experiences that came with it taught you?" she asked.

"I do. It taught me the value of never giving up, and to keep going, even if its hard, things will get better somewhere along the way."

She smiled. "Very good. That's enough for now. You may have another experience like this again, but that all depends on how much you can remember. Memory is the key after all…"

Before I could reply, the memory brightened until it was a solid white, and then I saw black.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

**Normal POV**

Professor Ozpin stood outside the hospital room, watching as Team RWBY and the conscious members of SABR, Ash, Bai, and Rowan, talked as they sat next to Silver's hospital bed.

How Silver, one of his best students, had passed out, he had had no idea until Ash explained what he had done. He had been shocked to hear that Silver had used his dragon slaying technique so soon. Ozpin had expected him to have it ready by second semester at the earliest. He stood in silence as he watched all seven children talk and joke with each other as they waited for Silver to wake up. Strike that, six of them. Miss Belladonna seemed to have a glazed expression in her eyes as she watched Mr. Aurelius as he slept.

"_Interesting,"_ he thought.

"_Paging Dr. Free and Dr. Jones to the Operating Room,"_ a woman's voice said over the intercom as a doctor with black hair with streaks of grey and green eyes behind his glasses, wearing a cobalt T-shirt and a lab coat approached Ozpin.

"Professor Ozpin, sir," he said, holding out his hand.

"Dr. Church. Good to see you again," Ozpin replied, taking the offered hand and shaking.

Dr. Leonard Church was at the top of his field when it came to things dealing with the human mind. He was known for his studies in multiple personality disorders, and had even dabbled in meta-stage A.I. theory a few years back.

Ozpin went back to observing the room as he asked, "Any news on Mr. Aurelius' condition?"

Dr. Church watched the teens inside the hospital room as well before responding, "He isn't injured physically, due to his Aura, and all of his vitals check out, so the fact that he isn't awake is… perplexing."

"You can't wake him up with a drug of some sort?" Ozpin asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"No, we tried that and it had no effect. We scanned his brain for signs of a coma, but there were none. We just can't seem to get him to snap out of it."

Ozpin watched the teens for a few more moments, particularly the actions of Blake, before lowering his cane to the ground and walking down the hall.

"I have to get back to Beacon. Keep me posted."

"Will do."

* * *

**Inside the Hospital Room**

**Rowan's POV**

We had been sitting at Silver's bedside, talking for a couple of hours now. We had been here since we got back from Visegrád, Gwyn and Davin going back to wherever it is they go, and Indigo making his way back to wherever the White Fang was based out of at the moment.

Ash, Bai, and I had tried to keep off of the topic of Silver's "Dragon Slaying" technique, but we knew it was an unavoidable discussion that I had the feeling would more than likely happen within the next hour.

Then Weiss asked, "So what was it, exactly, that Silver did? I remember you giving us an overview of it, but I'd like some details."

"_Or maybe it'll happen in the next five seconds,"_ I thought as Bai groaned and slipped twenty Lien into my hand. I had won the bet of who would ask first, Weiss or Yang.

"Oh Yeah!" Ruby said, "That was super cool! I want to know more about how he did that! And also how he went faster than me! And-"

She was cut off by Yang putting a hand over her mouth before she could continue.

"So were you guys going to tell us or not?" Yang asked.

Bai and I looked at Ash, waiting for him to start explaining since he knew the most, outside of Silver himself.

Ash sighed. "I suppose you guys should hear the details now rather than later… The truth is, this isn't the first time he's used the technique around other people. It's just the first time he's used it to such an extreme extent."

"Wait," Ruby said, "What do you mean this isn't the first time he's used it around others?"

I decided to field this question and said, "About a month ago, Professor Xiao Long, your dad, requested a skilled student to do a demonstration for one of his classes at Signal. He used only the basic perks of the 'Dragon Slaying' technique then, nothing near the power that you witnessed a little while ago."

"But what does it do? What are the perks and how does it work?" Weiss asked, seeming to get a little bit irritated.

Ash put a hand on Weiss' shoulder, calming her down a bit.

"I was getting to that," Ash said, "The 'Dragon Slaying' technique is one that hasn't been seen in centuries, and even if it was common knowledge, the first step to developing the skill is having a semblance of a certain element type, such as Silver's lightning."

"That's what allows him to use lightning-based attacks right?" Yang asked.

Ash nodded. "It's also what allows him to move at faster speeds than Ruby."

"Wow…" Ruby said.

"Once he unlocked the 'Dragon Slaying' technique, he only got faster and stronger, but while he was developing it, it became apparent that he had a lot of work to do before he could use the full form safely, which he still can't do."

"Wasn't what we saw last night its full form?" Yang asked.

Ash laughed. "No. No, I don't think he'll be able to do that without destroying half of Beacon for a while."

Weiss' face paled more than it already was. "You're saying that what we saw was only a _fraction_ of his full potential?"

Ash nodded.

"You see, 'Dragon Slayers', as those who use this technique are called," Bai explained, "are as powerful as they are because they take on the attributes of dragons, thereby giving them the power to defeat a dragon, but their most powerful use of this technique is called 'Dragon Force'. This ability grants them certain attributes that dragons have. Most visibly, when someone is using 'Dragon Force', they may appear to have scales along their arms and around their eyes, but it also gives them the destructive power of a dragon."

I finished the main description of Silver's technique with a question before I explained it.

"Do you guys remember how he asked all of you for some form of lightning Dust to help him power up?" I asked.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang nodded. Blake still wasn't paying much attention.

"Well, the single most distinguishing part of being a 'Dragon Slayer' is the fact that they can eat outside sources of their element in order to power up."

"Wait…" Weiss said.

"Did you just say…?" Yang asked.

"Eat?" Ruby finished in a half yell.

I nodded.

"I suddenly realize why he was always carrying vials of lightning Dust to combat training…" Yang said.

"Yeah," Ash laughed, "Silver said he scared the heck out of your dad's class when he downed a bottle of lightning Dust during his demonstration."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang just stared.

"Oh, please, you guys watched him eat more than that. Don't stare over _one_ bottle!" I said.

We sat in silence for a few moments as Ruby, Weiss, and Yang thought about what we just told them.

The door to the room opened and Dr. Church stepped in holding a chart.

Ash, Bai, and I all stood up quickly as he entered.

"Is he going to be okay sir?" I asked.

"As far as we can tell. He doesn't have a coma and all of his vitals check out, so he should wake up within the next twenty-four hours."

We all breathed a sigh of relief.

Dr. Church looked at us all in concern. "I am aware that you all just recently got back from a mission, and Ozpin has said that he hasn't seen any of you eat since you got back, so I would like to insist that you follow me to the cafeteria. Your Aura can cure you of many things, lack of food is not one of them."

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all got up, but Blake didn't so much as move.

Ruby was heading over to Blake to wake her up from Silver's side, but Yang just put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, telling her not to disturb her for a little while.

I was the last one out of the room, and when I exited, Blake still hadn't moved an inch.

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

**Silver's POV**

When I opened my eyes, my vision was a bit blurry, and I could only make out a few colors and shapes. I mostly saw that I was in a white-walled room, lying in a white bed.

The second thing I noticed was Blake sitting in a chair next to me with her head face down in the covers of my bed. I nudged her a couple of times with my finger, getting no more than a grunt of annoyance from her.

Then an evil grin crossed my face, and I reached a couple fingers underneath her bow and started scratching her behind the ears. This got much more of a reaction out of her, eliciting a few moans of approval before she finally lifted her head, now awake, and stretched, taking in her surroundings.

When she noticed me, she lunged forward and hugged me, shouting, "Silver!"

Through her deceptively crushing hug I was able to say, "Jeez Blake, I don't think I've ever seen you display this much emotion in one place…"

Her grip tightened on my shoulders, and she pulled back to look me directly in the eye. Her golden eyes met mine with a death glare and I relented, apologizing.

"Where are the others?" I asked, looking around the room, and trying to see out into the hall through the window.

"I don't know," she said, "Maybe they went to go get something to eat."

"And they did it without us…" I said.

Blake raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, "I think I'm going to go get something to eat, you want anything?"

"Get me something small."

"Okay," she said as she headed for the door.

"And Blake?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for waiting for me."

She tried to hide it, but I saw her smile as she went out the door. This was going to be a great few weeks.

* * *

**This chapter was actually pretty fun to write, despite all of the extra explanations for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. This also marks the official end of the Visegrád arc, despite the small piece in the next chapter. That means that it's back to the main storyline! Volume 1 is almost finished!**

**That's all I have to say for this chapter, so please leave a review, whether you're giving me ideas, or telling me what you thought doesn't matter, I just want reviews fro m you guys! Follows also help myself and the co-writers a little bit more drive so thanks to those of you who have already followed.**

**That said…**

**I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	22. Hindsight

**Good news everyone! I'm on Spring Break this week, so you can expect to see frequent updates for the next week or so! Also, a new project will be posted a little while after this goes up. This new project will be a back-story behind Gwyn and Davin.**

**On another note, I had someone review the story (Finally!) with a question about why I said Blake 'smiled'. I am aware that Blake has never truly smiled in the series, but nothing quite to the point of someone passing out after using an untested power and possibly being on the brink of death ever happened either. So, to answer your question, my dear Guest, lets call it at Silver breaking through to Blake and leave it at that. **

**Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might has well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default." –J. K. Rowling

**Chapter 19: Hindsight**

**Normal POV**

Two days after Silver was released from the Vale hospital found him sitting in Professor Ozpin's office. Ozpin was drinking his coffee calmly while Goodwitch was busy chewing out Silver.

"Just what were you thinking when you activated that technique?" she said furiously, "You could have killed yourself or those with you!"

Silver stayed silent as Goodwitch continued to rant about his recklessness.

"I understand that you were able to control it this time, but that doesn't mean anything if you can never be sure what will happen every time it gets activated!"

Silver knew this part wasn't entirely true, but chose to stay quiet as Goodwitch was starting to get on a roll.

"I would like to know why, even after what happened last time, you chose to activate this, 'Dragon Slaying' technique," she said.

Silver took this as a question he should answer and said, "If I hadn't used it, neither RWBY or SABR would be here right now."

"Mr. Aurelius, I am very much aware of that, but do you not remember what happened last time you tried to activate that ability?" she asked, slapping her riding crop on the desk in front of Silver, making him flinch.

"Of course I do, professor. I just try not to think about it."

* * *

**Two Weeks Before the Start of the Semester**

During one of their many strenuous combat-training sessions, Doctor Oobleck had been asked to go against Silver because he was the only one who could keep up with him at that point. The rest of the future Team SABR were sitting in the stands while Goodwitch acted as the referee.

Silver was speeding around the room, having mastered the use of his Semblance a few days ago. Oobleck sent wave after wave of fire at Silver, but had yet to land a solid blow on him.

Suddenly, Silver sped forward, almost faster than the human eye could see, trying to land a hit on Oobleck. The doctor was too quick for him however and knocked him down to the very edge of the red, but still in the yellow, of his Aura meter with a large blast of fire.

Silver was blasted back by the explosion and hit the ground several yards away from the professional huntsman. He slowly got to his feet before taking out a single vial of Dust and pulling out the cork.

In the stands, Ash stiffened and yelled, "Silver! It's not ready! Don't do it!"

A confused, and worried, Goodwitch looked between Ash and Silver as the Dust inside the vial activated, turning into lightning as Silver absorbed it.

Silver's Aura level could be seen going up on the monitor above the arena as he started to visibly spark in numerous places all over his body. His eyes changed from their usual bright gold, to a bright blue. He took off his cloak as he prepared to attack Oobleck, and threw it off to the side.

Silver started to charge up an attack, but after a few seconds, it became apparent that something was wrong. Bolts of lightning were flying everywhere, and the look of stress and pain confirmed that this wasn't supposed to be happening. Silver had lost control and there was nothing he could do about it.

In a sudden, massive surge of lightning, Silver collapsed to the floor, holding his hands to his head in pain, as his Aura was almost completely gone.

Goodwitch quickly took out her Scroll and tapped a few buttons, and held it up, saying, "Get me a medical team to the training room form, now!"

The medical team arrived less than thirty seconds later to start treating Silver.

He was out of commission for twenty-four hours before he woke up from that incident.

* * *

**Present Day**

As Silver remembered what had happened a few months ago, Goodwitch continued her rant, continuously talking about how reckless he had been and several reasons on why he shouldn't have done it, such as evidence showing that the Drakon was indeed being worn down before the 'Dragon Slaying' technique came into play.

Ozpin still hadn't said much as he drank his coffee and went through his Scroll.

Silver was only half-listening at this point, mostly because Goodwitch wasn't making too many more points that he hadn't heard already.

After a couple more minutes, Ozpin finally lowered his Scroll a little bit and interrupted Goodwitch, saying, "I think he gets it Glynda."

Goodwitch huffed in annoyance, obviously wanting to continue.

"Now then Mr. Aurelius," Ozpin said, "There is one more thing we need to cover concerning the Visegrád incident as we shall call it for the moment. The Valean Council heard about what took place and, as is required of them for a feat of that magnitude, has sent a fair sum of money to each of the recorded people involved with taking down the Drakon."

Silver raised an eyebrow, wondering where this is going.

Ozpin continued, "I have already sent said money to each bank account of those it was meant for, but there's another thing, this one from me."

Silver was now giving Ozpin his undivided attention.

"You are dismissed Glynda."

She looked a bit stunned at being dismissed, but did not object. Only when she had left did Ozpin start speaking again.

"I have two things to discuss with you. One is as your headmaster, and the other is as a friend. As your headmaster, I would like to offer you and your team more difficult missions from time to time if I feel it is a mission your team is uniquely suited for."

Silver nodded in acceptance. "Okay, then what's the other thing?"

Ozpin looked into Silver's golden eyes for a few seconds. "The following words we speak to each other are not as headmaster and student, but as family friend and son of a friend, am I clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," he said, reaching underneath his desk for a moment before something clicked inside a section of the walls.

Turning around, Silver saw that a door-like projection standing slightly ajar from the wall. He looked at Ozpin, who was walking towards the secret door, and got up to follow.

Ozpin opened up the door to reveal a large safe.

Silver's eyes widened at the complexity displayed on the safe console. In addition to the usual keypad, there was a retina scanner, voice recognition system, and blood test unit. Whatever was in that safe, Ozpin did not want anyone else getting it.

After taking the necessary steps to open the safe, Ozpin turned the handle and opened the door. He dug into the back of the safe before bringing out what appeared to be two objects wrapped in brown paper.

Ozpin gestured for Silver to come back to his desk as he laid the package down on his desk.

Silver sat down and asked, "What is it?"

"Open it," Ozpin said simply.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Silver dug into the package to reveal two identical single-handed long swords.

Each sword had a straight silver blade with a black hilt, but the most interesting part of the swords was the hand guards at the top of each hilt. The hand guards were very elaborately made in a bright red color to resemble a rose very similar to Ruby's symbol.

The scabbard of each sword was a simple, but elegant, white that made the weapon truly beautiful.

As Silver continued to marvel at the amazingly crafted weapons, Ozpin explained where they had come from.

"I've been safeguarding those blades for over twenty years now, as a favor to Summer. I would have given them to Tai-Yang after her 'death', but he refused to accept them. Now, I believe, it is time to return them to their rightful bloodline."

Silver looked between Ozpin and the swords in front of him before saying, "I thought my mom 'died' during a mission, shouldn't she have had these with her?"

The corner of Ozpin's mouth twitched. "No. These used to be the weapons she used, but when she was made a full time huntress and started taking on more difficult missions, she upgraded to her current weapon. These were the blades that she originally wielded."

Silver nodded in understanding. He then stood up sheathed the swords, clipping them to his belt so that they wouldn't be immediately noticeable under his cloak, and said, "If that's all we have to talk about, then thank you for the cash and the weapons."

Ozpin gave him a small smile, saying, "What weapons?"

Silver smirked and left the office to figure out what to do with his newly acquired heirloom.

* * *

**One Week Later**

**Vale**

Team RWBY had decided to take a trip into Vale in the late afternoon before the weekend that meant classes were over for the week. They were currently walking towards the downtown district and the docks.

When they reached downtown Vale, they saw an old shopkeeper putting up a sign above the street that announced the upcoming Vytal Festival and welcomed travellers to Vale.

"The Vytal Festival!" Weiss exclaimed, "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss," Ruby said, "It's kind of weirding me out…"

"How could you not smile?" Weiss asked, "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!" she said as they continued walking.

Yang sighed. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!"

As they approached the docks, Yang said, "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks."

"Ugh, they smell like fish." Ruby said, holding her nose.

"I hear that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss said, turning to her teammates, "And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake said.

Weiss whirled around in protest and said, "You can't prove that!"

"Whoa." Ruby said as she looked down the street and saw a Dust shop with broken windows.

The rest of Team RWBY took similar responses to the crime scene.

As they approached, they noticed two detectives examining the crime scene as they talked with three familiar-looking figures.

When they got within earshot, they heard the figure with the cloak asking if the detectives had any leads while the detective answered with a shake of his head. The cloaked figure looked up in exasperation until he noticed the four pairs of footsteps getting closer, causing the three to turn around to reveal Silver, Ash, and Bai.

"Hey guys!" Yang said.

"How's it going?" Ash replied.

"Not bad. What are you guys up to?" Yang said.

"Why were you guys talking with those detectives?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah! And where's Rowan?" Ruby said.

"We helped these detectives with a particularly hard case a couple months back," Silver said, "Some idiot decided he wanted to assassinate one of the council members, but forgot to cover his tracks, so we had to help them get as much evidence as possible on his actions, which was fairly difficult considering the motive itself didn't seem to be there."

"Anyways," Ash continued, "They call us out whenever they get a fairly confusing case that seems to have very little motive or evidence suggested."

"As for where Rowan is, he is currently looking into something else for us and will be back later," Bai said.

Ruby walked up to the tapeline and asked the detective, "What happened here?"

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible," Yang said.

"They left all the money again," they heard one of the detectives say, catching the attention of Ruby and the three members of Team SABR.

"Eh, it just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" the other detective replied.

"I don't know. You know what I mean?"

"You thinking the uh… White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

Silver went over and started talking to the detectives to have a quick chat about any relevant evidence and records.

Weiss huffed. "The White Fang! What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

Ash and Bai looked at each other before moving to join Silver before they could get dragged into the oncoming argument.

"What's your problem?" Blake asked.

"My problem?" Weiss asked, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"Blake's got a point," Ruby said, "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago… Maybe it was him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's not necessarily true…" Yang said.

They suddenly heard a voice from the docks say, "Hey, stop that Faunus!"

Team RWBY ran over to the railing just outside of the docks with Silver, Ash, and Bai right behind them. They watched as two sailors chased a yellow-haired figure across the deck of a ship. The figure then vaults onto the railing and onto the dock.

Having gotten away safely, the now clearly visible teenage monkey Faunus, known to SABR as Sun Wukong, hung upside down from a lamppost as he unpeeled a banana.  
A rock was thrown at him by one of the detectives from earlier who had come to see what the commotion was about, making him lean out of the way.

"Hey!" the officer said, "Get down from there this instant!"

Throwing the banana peel in the detective's face, Sun jumped down and ran up to the main street. As he passed by Team RWBY, Silver, Ash, and Bai, time seemed to slow down and he gave a quick wink to Blake as he continued to run, being chased by the detectives.

"Well, Weiss," Yang said, "you wanted to see the competition. And there it goes…"

"Quick! We have to observe him!" Weiss shouted, running in the direction Sun had gone, the others following her.

Sun and the detectives cut around a corner, and as Weiss tries to pursue, she ran into a girl with orange hair and a pink bow.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang stopped to say sorry to the girl as Silver, Ash, and Bai continued running after Sun, who had jumped up onto the rooftops, not wanting to have any part of what came next with the introductions of a certain new character.

* * *

**With Silver, Ash, and Bai**

**Vale Rooftops**

Sun continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop, closely followed by Silver, Ash, and Bai. They weren't necessarily trying to catch him for the moment, wanting to get some distance between themselves and the docks, so that they could have as much privacy as possible when they finally got to him.

After about two more blocks, Silver activated his semblance and travelled at lightning speed to appear directly in front of Sun. Having no where to run, Sun started to reach for his weapon at the back of his belt.

"Stop, we don't want to fight you. We just want to talk," Silver said.

"So what? So you can arrest me?" the monkey Faunus replied.

"We aren't the police. We just happened to be working with them when you ran by," Bai said, having caught up.

Sun visibly relaxed and dropped his arms down to his sides. "Alright then. What did you want to talk about?"

"We mostly just wanted to know why you stowed away on the ship is all," Ash said.

"Yeah…" Sun said, "My team and I were coming from Mistral for the tournament later this year, but due to the fact that I wanted to explore the kingdom a little bit before attending Beacon for the rest of the year, I decided to go ahead of my team. Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot of money at the moment, so I had to stow away on the ship."

Silver, Ash, and Bai looked at each other before nodding in acceptance.

"Now that we know why we shouldn't just turn you in, I suppose introductions are in order," Bai said.

"Oh. Yeah, I forgot," Sun said, "My name's Sun Wukong, I'm the leader of Team SSSN from Haven Academy in Mistral."

"I'm Bai Ryder, member of Team SABR at Beacon Academy."

"They call me Winters. Ash Winters. Member of Team SABR at Beacon Academy."

Silver punched Ash for his bad reference before introducing himself.

"And I'm Silver Aurelius, leader of Team SABR at Beacon Academy."

Sun seemed to look confused, visibly counting on his hand.

"You have the first three letters… but where's your fourth member? You guys look pretty cool."

Silver smirked at the compliment and was about to answer when his Scroll's ringtone went off, signaling an incoming call. Taking it out, Silver looked at the contact info.

"Speak of the devil," he said, picking up the call.

"And he shall appear…" Ash finished quietly.

* * *

**Going to be honest here. That took a lot longer to write than I care to think about. Now then, right down to business. I will be putting up a poll to see what you guys would like to see from me next soon. There will be at least three ideas on the list, and the Gwyn and Davin story will not be voted on since that's already in production, so keep your eyes out!**

**Anyways, next chapter will be out within the next couple days, so be sure to leave a review and follow for more!**

**I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	23. Out of the Shadows

**So last chapter was quite something to write, let me tell you. Copying the dialogue of one of the episodes is something I haven't done for a while, so it slowed the process down considerably. I will be continuing to explain the whole Blake giving a genuine smile thing as I go, so keep an eye on that.**

**The poll is fairly unanimous with two votes last I checked, but it won't be closing for at least a week, so keep voting! With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!**

"Happiness can exist only in acceptance." –George Orwell

* * *

**Chapter 20: Out of the Shadows**

**Vale City Docks**

**Rowan's POV**

I had been sitting here, invisible, at the docks, for about two hours now, watching for any suspicious activity that may or may not happen. Silver just had to have me make sure nothing happened when we weren't looking.

The most interesting thing about the night was the massive shipment of Dust containers being offloaded and stacked. If there was even one loose container in one of those crates, and a wrong move from a crane operator were to further loosen the lid or cork of that container… I didn't want to think about it.

Just as I was about to tear my eyes away from the long rows of the stacked crates when a blur of motion caught my eye. Whoever it was, they were almost moving too fast for me to pick anything out about them. Almost. I looked down the scope of my rifle and noticed two things that told me exactly who it was that had just disappeared into the shade of the Dust storage containers.

First, their speed didn't obscure the color of their clothing enough for me to not recognize it, dark blue and black. The second thing I noticed was that they _literally_ disappeared into the shade of the Dust containers.

Now that I knew _he_ was getting involved, I took out my Scroll and called Silver.

It took a few seconds for him to pick up, saying something about the devil.

"Hey Silver," I said, "I've got an update for you. I'm just wrapping up here. You busy?"

"Not really," he replied, "Just talking with a new friend I just made."

"Oh Yeah? You want to introduce us?"

"Maybe some other time. You said you had an update?"

"Yeah, I just wanted you to know that Indigo is getting involved."

There were a few moments of silence on the other end.

"Silver?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Just… thinking…"

"Alright then, I'll see you back at Beacon," I said, about to hang up.

"Wait," Silver said, before I could hang up, "I need you to do that thing we discussed this morning. I know you just sat around for a few hours, but I need you to do it one more time. Please?"

It took me a few moments to realize what he was talking about and why he was being so vague. Oh, right, there's someone else there that he doesn't want to hear.

I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, Silver was right, some things just had to be watched.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

**Beacon Academy**

Here I was, sitting in a freaking tree, invisible, outside Team RWBY's dorm room window, listening to their two hour long argument. I was definitely going to put a bullet through Silver's head for these stupid assignments. I knew this argument lasted a long time, but I've been sitting out here way too long.

Coming out of my thoughts, I heard a familiar part of the argument start.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" I heard Weiss say.

"That is the problem!" Blake replied.

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!" Weiss claimed.

Here we go…

"There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?" Weiss asked.

"You're discriminatory!" Blake shouted.

"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouted back, bringing silence over the room.

I slowly brought myself closer to the dorm room window so that I could see what was going on as Weiss continued much more quietly.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?"

I was very careful to stay absolutely still in my position, lest she see the glimmer that gives away my semblance.

Weiss continued, "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

Ruby walked up behind Weiss, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, I-"

Weiss turned away and walked back up to Blake, saying, "No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake shouted, once again silencing the room.

I sighed, watching as Weiss took a few steps back, and Blake looked at the expressions on the rest of her teammates faces.

"I… I…" she started, searching for words to explain, before caving into fear and dashing for the door.

Ruby sped towards the door, shouting down the hallway, "Blake, wait! Come back!"

I had seen enough, so I quietly went back down the tree I was in and sent a message to Silver as I headed back to my dorm. Sleep was something Silver probably wasn't going to get a whole lot of this weekend…

* * *

**Beacon Academy Courtyard**

**Normal POV**

Blake had run halfway across the school campus to the statue. She had accidentally let it slip to her team that she was a former member of the White Fang.

She looked on the verge of tears as she examined the statue picturing a huntsman and a huntress standing over a Beowolf.

She slowly reached up to her bow and untied it to reveal her cat ears. Holding the ribbon in her hand, she continued to examine the statue until she heard a voice behind her.

"I knew you would look better without the bow."

Blake turned to see Sun perched on top of a nearby pillar, and Silver leaning against the same pillar.

"I told you Blake," Silver said, "Taking the bow off every once in a while probably feels pretty good. Telling your team in a different way probably would have helped us avoid this situation though."

Blake stared at him for a moment, while Sun just looked between the two, completely confused.

Blake dried her eyes a little. "Rowan was listening in on us, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, but after earlier today, I figured something might come up."

"What do I do? Blake asked, starting to tear up again.

Both Sun and Silver came forward and comforted her.

"At this point you just need to give Weiss some time. She'll probably think a lot about how you've treated her over the past few months, which I have to say, is not that bad, and weigh that against her normal perception of Faunus. I'm sure she'll come around. If she doesn't on her own, well, that's what we have Ash for."

Looking over the top of Blake's head between them, Sun gave a quick smile to Silver.

"So what do we do now?" Sun asked.

"We give Weiss the time she needs to figure this out, but we will need to talk about your history as well Blake. Rowan told me the actual wording of the last part of the argument."

Blake just nodded, seeming to be in deep thought.

Sun raised an eyebrow at Silver, who gave him a look that said, _'later'_.

"Let's head into the city," Silver said, "We need to get a place to crash."

"How are we going to get there?" Sun asked, "The airships are down for the night, and I saw your bike, we can't fit three people onto that thing."

Silver smirked. "I do have one way to get us there quickly. Hold on tight."

Blake happened to be listening enough to have an idea of what Silver was going to do, so she quickly pressed in close by hugging him.

Sun, having no clue what Silver was about to do, looked confused as Silver grabbed his arm and activated his semblance.

He gathered the lightning around him and disappeared in a small blue flash of light.

* * *

**Now that that's over, it's going to be a few days before I can completely plan and write the next chapter. The amount of dialogue I'm going to inevitably have to copy is going to be fairly annoying. I'd still like to see more votes on the poll by the way. Be sure to follow and review if you haven't already! That's all for now, so I'll see you guys… Next time! **


	24. Into the Light

**So this is probably going to be a long chapter once I'm done writing it, as I've never had chapter notes that ran so long. I'm going to guess that it goes over 5000 words when it's all said and done, but this is just a pre-chapter author note, so who knows? I'm still watching the poll, and it'll be down within the next couple of weeks, so vote while you can! Enjoy the chapter!**

"So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing." –T.S. Eliot

* * *

**Chapter 21: Into the Light**

**Vale City**

**Normal POV**

At a small balcony café near downtown Vale, Blake, Sun, and Silver sat drinking tea together in silence. Blake and Sun sat at a table across from each other, Sun using his tail to hold his cup, and Blake taking a sip every so often. Silver sat at a table next to them, going through his Scroll and taking the occasional sip of tea.

Blake took another sip of tea, sighed and put her cup down, saying, "So, you want to know more about me."

Sun raised his hands into the air. "Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you gave me nothing but small talk and weird looks! I tried asking Silver over there, but he just did the same thing!"

Blake and Silver just glared at the monkey Faunus.

"Yeah, like that."

Silver returned his gaze to his Scroll while Blake rolled her eyes.

"Sun," Blake said, "Are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!"

Blake took another sip of her tea. "I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun had been taking another sip of tea as she said this, causing him to choke and cough as he held up a hand to process the information.

"Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?" he said in surprise, looking for a response from Silver, who simply put away his Scroll and shrugged at him.

"That's right," Blake continued, "I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it…"

Silver and Sun were now listening very intently.

"Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist. Then, five years ago, out leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect… out of fear."

Blake took another sip of her tea, putting it down as she finished.

Sun looked mildly shocked, while Silver stared into the distance, lost in thought.

"So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow," she said, twitching her ears, causing her bow to move.

"So," Sun said, "have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake looked down at the table. "Silver's the only one who knew before now…"

Sun looked at Silver in shock. "When did you…?"

Silver looked at for a moment before answering. "I was put in the hospital after an over usage of my Aura, and Blake told me during one of her visits, since I had told her shortly before that I knew she was a Faunus…"

Before the monkey Faunus could say anything else, Silver's Scroll beeped, indicating a message being received. Silver took it out and read the message before putting it away and looking at Blake.

"Ash and Rowan just messaged me. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang are looking for you."

Blake looked down at the table and took a final sip of tea, a sad look in her eyes.

* * *

**Later…**

After they had finished their drinks, Blake, Sun, and Silver took a walk.

As they started heading down an alley, Sun asked, "So, what's the plan now?"

Blake contemplated this for a moment. "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

"If the White Fang is involved, there's been no evidence to suggest it so far," Silver said.

"What if they did need that much Dust?" Sun asked, moving in front of the other two, "I mean… the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it, and not find them there! Right?"

"That was a long way of saying something so simple, but yeah, that would work," Silver commented, getting a glare from Sun.

"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be," Blake said.

"Well," Sun started, "while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" Blake asked.

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"You're sure?" Blake asked, leaning forward with a hard glare.

* * *

**Later that night…**

Blake was lying prone on top of the roof of a building, Silver sitting next to her, as they both watched the shipment of Schnee Dust containers.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked, dropping down next to them, a few apples in his arms.

"Not really," Blake replied, "They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool," he said, holding out two apples, "I stole you guys some food."

Silver gave Sun silent thanks as he took an apple while Blake gave Sun a questioning look.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" she asked.

"Hey," he replied, "weren't you in a cult or something?"

Blake shot an angry glare at him.

"Okay, too soon!" he quickly said.

Just then, a wind blows all around them, and they look up to see a Bullhead pass over them and start to descend into the middle of the cargo storage area. It let down a ramp, and several masked men with black hoods came down.

"Oh no…" Blake said.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

Silver and Blake took notice of the bloody wolf on their backs.

Silver nodded while Blake said, "Yes… it's them."

Another soldier stopped at the top of the ramp, holding a rifle, and shouted, "Alright, grab the tow cables!"

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked, looking at Blake.

"No," she replied, "I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

Silver put on his sunglasses and continued observing the scene, almost seeming to be looking for something.

Blake closed her eyes sadly before snapping them right back open as a new voice reached her ears.

"Hey!" someone shouted, "What's the holdup?"

Roman Torchwick appeared at the top of the ramp and started walking down.

"We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?"

Blake shook her head at the scene unfolding in front of her. "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a Human. Especially not one like that."

She stood up and drew her sword as she said this and walking to the edge of the roof.

Sun reached out a hand to stop her, saying, "Hey, what are you doing?"

Silver partially mirrored the movement. "Blake, don't!" he said.

It was too late. Blake had already jumped off the roof and had started making her way towards Torchwick.

As she approached, Torchwick was talking to one of the White Fang members who was holding a coiled rope.

"No, you idiot!" he said, "This isn't a leash!"

As he looked to check on the other soldiers, Blake appeared behind him, putting her sword to his throat.

"What the-" Torchwick started before rolling his eyes in realization, continuing, "Oh, for f-"

"Nobody move!" Blake said.

The White Fang members prepared their weapons in response to her appearance.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady," Torchwick said.

The White Fang members started closing in on Blake as she brought her free hand up to remove her bow, revealing her ears to the other Faunus.

"Brothers of the White Fang!" she shouted, "Why are you aiding this scum?"

The Whit Fang members lowered their weapons, not wanting to shoot one of their own as Roman laughed.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Blake demanded, turning her attention back to him.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together!"

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end your little operation."

Suddenly, two more Bullheads appeared above them, their spotlights focused on the group.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation…" Torchwick said, preparing his cane.

"Don't even think about it Torchwick," a voice said from beside them.

Blake and Roman looked to their left to see Silver with a revolver drawn and aimed straight at Torchwick's head.

"Go ahead and use the cane," Silver said, "I dare you. Make. My. Day."

Silver didn't notice the mass of shadows quickly approaching and didn't have time to dodge as they collided with him and Roman quickly fired a flare from his cane, sending Blake flying.

Silver rolled over and slowly got back up just in time to roll out of the way of a crossbow bolt that had been sent his way.

Knowing who had hit him, Silver smiled.

"If I didn't know any better, Indigo, I'd say that you've gotten a bit rusty."

Indigo reappeared in a swirl of shadows. "As if I was actually trying to hit you in the head. Where's the fun in that?"

"Fair enough. So… are you sure you want to do this, even after seeing what iI did at Visegrád?" Silver asked.

Indigo smirked. "You can't possibly be that good in a fight against me, not with lightning."

"We'll see," Silver replied.

The two teens stared each other down, listening to the nearby sounds of battle coming from the main clearing.

Silver suddenly disappeared in a flash of lightning, reappearing right in front of Indigo and kicking him in the stomach and launching him back.

Indigo twirled his tomahawks and began firing at Silver.

Silver drew his swords and started to swing his blades in deadly arcs as he blocked the bullets, and at one point, cut one clean in half.

Indigo ran out of ammo and quickly reloaded, giving Silver a chance to charge in and start to take several swings at Indigo, even as he parried almost every strike.

Realizing that he was losing ground, Indigo swept Silver's legs out from under him and went for a strike with a shadow-covered hand. Silver quickly spun on the ground and swept Indigo's feet out from under him.

They both got up and glared at each other, but before either of them could move, a flash of bright light caused them to look away.

When their vision cleared, Bai was seen in between Silver and Indigo, his arms crossed.

"Go help the others, Silver," he said, "I got this."

"Are you sure?"

Bai grinned. "Completely."

Silver nodded and ran back over to the main fight.

Bai watched him go before returning his attention to Indigo.

"What do you say we take this somewhere more private?" Bai asked.

"No interruptions? I'd hate to have to switch opponents again."

"None. So do you want to go fight, or are we just going to stand here all night?"

"Let's go."

They then disappeared in a flash of light and a swirl of shadows.

The first part of the plan was in motion.

* * *

As Silver arrived back at the main battle, Roman cornered Sun as he aimed the gun barrel of his cane at him.

Before Torchwick could do anything, however, Ruby arrived, shouting, "Hey!"

As Roman turned his back to Sun, Silver took the opportunity to dash in and get Sun out of the line of fire for the moment.

"Well, hello, Red!" Roman said, "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

As Ruby turned to talk to someone behind her, Roman shot a flare at her, knocking her back.

As Penny walked to the edge of the rooftop and jumped down, entering the battle, Silver could see Rowan helping Ruby to her feet while Ash watched Penny in action.

Penny was bowling through the White Fang soldiers with no trouble, using her swords as an extension of herself to quickly block incoming strikes and retaliate against the attackers.

As two more Bullheads approached and opened fire with their mounted mini-guns, Penny used two swords to jump back and then formed a circle of swords to generate a laser to shoot them out of the sky.

As one Bullhead tried to make off with one of the storage containers, Penny used her swords, along with almost invisible, but incredibly strong, string to keep it from leaving and then sending it crashing into the ground.

Unfortunately, no one was close enough to stop Torchwick from getting away as he got on another Bullhead and flew off.

Silver sighed and helped Sun back to his feet. Sun was apparently still in awe of what Penny had just done with seemingly no effort.

Silver then took out his Scroll and messaged Ash and Rowan, not wanting to say anything, lest someone overhear.

_We move to the next part of the plan after Blake and Weiss make up. Got it?_

Getting confirmations from both, he and Sun climbed down from their vantage point at the top of the storage containers to meet up with the others.

* * *

**Forever Fall**

Everything was quiet in the Forever Fall Forest. The only sounds being made were the occasional, far off howls of a pack of Beowolves.

In a large clearing, fairly deep within the forest, a bright light and a dark shadow fought for dominance in an oddly quiet way.

Standing in the center of their respective attributes, Bai and Indigo were trying to overpower one another, but at the moment were at a complete deadlock.

Realizing that there was going to be no end to the deadlock, Indigo drew his tomahawks and fired their pistol function rapidly, hoping to catch Bai off guard. Bai formed a barrier of light in front of him, stopping the bullets, before drawing his bow and firing several arrows while simultaneously creating a hard-light construct above Indigo and letting it drop.

Not seeing the danger above, Indigo stopped the arrows as he was hit hard from above.

"How clever," Indigo said, "You got me. But that won't work again."

Indigo began to gather his semblance into one of his hands, building up power. When it seemed that he had gathered enough power, he held out his hand and released a dark energy, almost like a cloud of condensed darkness, towards Bai.

Bai widened his eyes at the oncoming attack and quickly held out both hands as he created a barrier to block it.

The dark energy met the light barrier and sparks and multiple colors of light escaped from the ensuing explosion that left both teens still standing.

"How is there no end to this stalemate?" Indigo yelled in frustration.

"There could be the fact that we're both still testing each other. You aren't even getting completely serious about this, are you?" Bai asked, almost bored.

"I shouldn't need to go all out for you!" Indigo said.

Bai shrugged. "Suit yourself. We'll be here all night if we aren't actually trying."

Indigo sighed. "I guess I did want to do other things tonight…"

Indigo then closed his eyes and concentrated.

Bai smirked and did the same.

After a few seconds a pressure could be felt as the two combatants focused on raising their power as far as they could.

When they had gathered all the power they could, they started forming spheres of energy similar to the ones they had created during the Visegrád incident. As the spheres got to the largest stable size they could, Indigo and Bai flung them at each other, causing them to collide and create a large explosion of black and white in the middle of the forest.

As the smoke cleared, both fighters were revealed to be on the ground with their own share of injuries.

Indigo was the first to get up, and he smirked when he saw that he had won.

He turned to leave when he heard Bai chuckling behind him.

"What's so funny?" Indigo asked, turning back around.

'It's nothing," Bai replied, "You won the battle, but it doesn't matter, because I did what I came out here to do."

"What's that?"

"I came out here to distract you."

Indigo paled slightly. Cinder was going to kill him. Indigo turned and ran through the trees, hoping he got back in time.

* * *

**Back at the Docks**

**30 Minutes Before the Battle Ended**

Blake, Sun, Ruby, Penny, Silver, Ash, and Rowan were all sitting around a group of boxes as the police investigated the robbery. They had already been questioned by the police and were now just resting before they left for their next destination.

The group then noticed Weiss and Yang approaching, Yang looking concerned, while Weiss' expression was unreadable.

Ruby got up and walked quickly toward Weiss, trying to explain the situation to Weiss.

"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute…"

Weiss ignored her as she walked up to Blake, who had also stood up.

Blake started trying to fully explain herself to Weiss, saying, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

Weiss quickly cut off Blake as she said, "Stop! Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"

Weiss paused and no one else said anything.

"Twelve hours," she said, "That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided…"

Everyone except Weiss and Blake looked at each other, worried at the heiress' next words.

"I don't care," Weiss said, much to the surprise of Blake, and the relief of everyone else.

"You don't care?" Blake asked.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

Weiss cut Blake off again. "Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up… you'll come to your teammates. And not some…"

She looked from Sun to Silver and back again.

"Someone else," she finished.

Blake wiped a tear away as she looked at Ruby and Yang behind Weiss.

"Of course," she replied.

Weiss smiled and nodded and they were allowed one more serious second until…

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby yelled.

Team RWBY plus Sun gathered closely together and Weiss pointed an accusing finger at Sun.

"I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!" she said.

Sun laughed nervously.

Ruby then looked around. "Hey, wait a minute… Where's Penny?"

She didn't notice the car driving away behind them.

"Yeah, wasn't SABR here too?" Yang asked.

Blake and Sun looked around.

"Where did Silver go?" Blake asked, "I would have thought he would have stuck around…"

"Aw man!" Sun exclaimed, "I wanted to take Silver to this awesome noodle place I found yesterday too!"

Weiss was none too happy with Ash just ditching them like that.

"_Ash is going to get a piece of my mind the next time I see him…"_ she thought.

"I'm sure they had a good reason for just leaving like that…" Ruby said disappointedly.

* * *

**Abandoned Warehouse**

Roman walks into the abandoned warehouse, the space empty save for a single table on which he places his case of unknown contents and leans over, exhausted.

"How very disappointing Roman," a voice says from behind him, the door opening.

"Whoa!" he exclaims turning around to see a woman with two teens flanking her, "Hehe… I wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon…"

"We were expecting… more from you," the mysterious woman said.

"Hey! You were the ones who suggested working with those stupid mutts from the White Fang."

"And you will continue to do so," she says, forming a fireball in her hand and walking slowly forward, "We have big plans for you, Roman. All we ask is… a little cooperation."

She smiled before whirling around, extinguishing her flames.

"Someone is watching us," she said, looking around until her eyes settled on the door.

"Show yourself!" she ordered.

"A figure appeared at the door.

"You know, Cinder, you are much more perceptive than I originally thought you were. I'll have to remember that," the man said.

The man wore black combat boots with white laces, black pants, and a black jacket with white and red accents going down the arms and front. The most notable piece of his outfit however, was the cloak he wore, covering half his body and shadowing his face. The cloak was white, went down to his ankles, and had a red inner lining. The only visible weapons on him were two swords sticking out from under the cloak, red sheaths and with a white hand guard.

"Who are you?" Cinder asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Now where would the fun in telling you be? You have to figure things out for yourself, my dear Cinder Fall…" he replied, almost mockingly.

Having reached her limit with his antics, she forms another fireball and sends a stream of fire towards him without warning. She and the others smile as they watch, thinking that the problem has been averted.

Just as quickly as the flames engulfed him, the flames disappeared, revealing another figure standing slightly in front of the first.

This one had black hair with a few streaks of a dark red. He wore glasses and a black mask over his lower face. He wore black boots, white pants, and a black coat lined with white fur at the neck and wrists. He had a dark-red painted rifle strapped to his back and had his hand stretched out, as if protecting the first figure.

"Do you really have to aggravate the evil mastermind?" the second figure asked the first.

The first figure shrugged. "I've been going pretty hard all weekend. I felt like talking like this might loosen me up a bit."

The second sighed. "At least be careful of her fire. This stuff was pretty hot, even for me. I'm thinking it's not normal fire, maybe a heated solid such as glass."

Those last words seemed to be directed more towards Cinder, who widened her eyes in shock.

"Either way," the first figure said, "thanks for not letting me get burnt down to _cinders_…"

Cinder's eye twitched in annoyance.

While the two intruders were talking, no one noticed another figure approaching from behind. He quickly knocked Roman out with a kick to the head, alerting the other three conspirators. Mercury was closest and had sent a bullet from his boots straight at the third intruder at point blank range. Much to his surprise, however, the bullet hit the wall directly behind his target. The third intruder smirked beneath his mask before jumping over the three and standing next to the other two intruders.

The third intruder wore dark grey pants with his black boots, a white trench coat with a black shirt and red tie underneath, and a white masquerade-style mask on his face.

Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury sized up these three intruders. They didn't seem to look like much, but they obviously knew a lot about their plans.

"Now what can we do for you?" she asked, changing tactics.

The first intruder, apparently the leader, spoke first. "We would just like for you to stop what you're doing before it goes too far."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. "And if we don't?"

"We won't do too much to stop you," the third said.

"Yeah," the second said, "We prefer to leave people to make their own terrible mistakes, unless they affect others in the way your plans will."

All three turned to walk away.

"We'll be watching," the leader said, "We won't interfere if you decide to continue, but keep in mind…"

He turned half way to look at them.

"You will have messed with the wrong people."

They then walked out the door and into the moonlight.

Before they could take more than five steps out the door, however, a thick fog rolled in faster than naturally possible, obscuring the vision of everyone present.

The first intruder squinted from under his hood, trying to make out his surroundings, the others doing the same. A blur of black and purple passed them, going in the direction they had come.

The first intruder put on a pair of sunglasses under his hood, activating a night-vision mode. He watched as the figure pulled out two half-circle blades, one white, and the other black. He then took notice of their appearance.

The best that could be said about the figure is that they were female. They had a dark purple cloak with a white shield and what seemed to resemble a bright red phoenix emblazoned on it. They had black combat boots, black stockings, a black combat skirt, and a dark purple shirt. Covering her face was a pair of shades, apparently with a night-vision mode enabled, and a white face mask with two black stripes going down the sides.

The most striking thing about this person, however, was the bright red hair, and what appeared to be a few purple feathers here and there.

He then returned his attention to what she was actually doing.

She ran into the warehouse and swept Cinder's legs out from under her before she could do anything. Mercury and Emerald rushed forward in retaliation until she combined her blades to form a submachine gun and firing to knock them back.

Roman groaned and started to get up, alerting the unknown person, causing them to reform their machine gun into a disk and throw it at him, hitting him in the head and rebounding to hit Emerald and Mercury, knocking them out as well.

Noticing that Cinder was starting to get up, she quickly ran out the door, running past the other three with a simple salute and disappearing into an alley.

The first three insurgents looked at each other.

"What the heck was that about?" the second asked.

"I have no idea," the first said, "but we'll figure it out later. Let's go."

With that, they disappeared onto the rooftops, leaving the scene where an angry Cinder was cursing herself and her associates for being found out.

* * *

**That was a thing to write. It took a while to get this planned, much less written. Not much to say outside of possible character bios going up on my profile this within the next couple days. I'm also hoping to get at least two more updates done before I have to go dark for AP Exam studying. Not to worry, I will be doing some planning, just no writing, so updates will probably be more frequent post-exam.**

**Also, the first three people to guess who the unnamed individuals at the end of this were, in order; get an honorable mention and a free suggestion for a future chapter! (This means I will do my best to write it in. Please try to keep it somewhat classy)**

**Follow and be sure to leave a review with any suggestions, including ideas for the filler chapters between Volumes 1 and 2, and I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	25. Challenge Accepted

**So, this chapter was pretty spur of the moment. I honestly had no idea for this until just now, but I suppose it was inevitable…**

**Anyways, the first three people to correctly guess those three mystery people were AuraGuardianRyan, Oathkeeper0317, and Grimmkeeper. Congrats guys!**

**Now, I'm sure many of you were wondering who the fourth person was, right? That would be the introduction of Amber Florence, it may have seemed random, but I'll have more on that at a later time. Until then, Enjoy!**

"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift."- Steve Prefontaine

* * *

**Chapter 22: Challenge Accepted**

**Beacon Academy**

**Normal POV**

It was the last week of semester, and teams RWBY, JNPR, SABR, and a few other teams were sitting in the stands of the combat arena, waiting anxiously for Professor Goodwitch to arrive.

As Goodwitch walked in, she said, "Alright class, seeing as this is the last week of semester, I think we should change things up a little bit. Today, we will be doing team battles."

This statement caused excited whispers to ripple through the stands with the students talking about the possible matchups.

"Settle down, settle down," Goodwitch said, "Are there any volunteers for the first match?"

Almost instantly, Ruby's hand went up.

"Miss Rose, did you and your team have an opponent in mind?" Goodwitch asked.

"We would like to face-"

She paused as Weiss whispered something in her ear.

"Oh Yeah!" she said, a wide smile forming over her face, "We would like to challenge Team SABR!"

"Okay then. Mr. Aurelius, do you have any objections?"

"We accept your challenge," Silver said, turning towards Ruby.

"Very well. Please go prepare for your match."

As both teams went to the locker rooms to change and get their weapons, Team JNPR and a few others were already placing bets on the winner.

"SABR's going to win," Ren said simply.

"Yang's going to break their legs!" Nora said excitedly.

"Both teams are highly skilled, but I have to place my bet on SABR," Pyrrha said.

"No way! Ruby's too fast, and Weiss can freeze them where they stand!" Jaune countered.

"We'll see soon enough…" Pyrrha said.

* * *

**A few minutes later…**

Once both teams were on the combat floor, Goodwitch retreated to a safe distance so that she would not be in the way.

"Are both teams ready?" she asked.

The eight students on the combat floor nodded.

"Good, oh, and before we begin, Mr. Aurelius, please try not to damage the combat floor."

Silver gave the professor a mock salute. "You got it, professor."

"Match begins in…"

"Five."

Teams RWBY and SABR drew their weapons.

"Four."

"Three."

Ruby and Yang got into position to charge forward.

"Two."

"One."

Everyone in the stands tensed in anticipation.

"Match start!"

Yang and Ruby flew forward, aiming to take down their opponents quickly, but they weren't expecting Silver and Bai to disappear in two flashes of light, or for Rowan to flicker into invisibility and Ash to phase through the floor.

Everyone looked around to see where SABR had gone, Team RWBY trying to stay ready for anything.

Suddenly, random sparks of electricity started to form in front of Blake, barely giving her any time to jump away with her semblance as Silver appeared with a slash of his swords.

Before the rest of the team could react to Silver's abrupt appearance, Yang dodged as several arrows flew towards her and impaled themselves where she had once been standing, Bai landing amongst them, his bow split into its dual sword form.

Ruby twirled her scythe to block a shot she had just barely seen coming from Rowan, who had flickered out of invisibility, while Weiss was just able to block a strike from Ash as he appeared out of the ground.

Each pair engaged in combat, intent on winning their individual duel so that they may help their teammates.

Silver and Blake were taking strikes and dodging with their respective semblances in an effort to take the other down. Silver would use his lightning to quickly get out of the way of a strike while Blake would use her shadow clones as a distraction to get away from Silver's slashes and swipes.

Ash and Weiss were locked in a duel with Weiss taking high-speed stabs at Ash as he quickly and carefully parried each attack. He used a combination of his sword and gauntlets to keep her at bay, but their fight was starting to become a stalemate.

Bai and Yang were also beginning to form a stalemate with Yang punching Bai's arrows out of the air, and Bai blocking every attack sent his way with constructs of light. Neither one was able to get much of an advantage over the other.

Rowan and Ruby were constantly going back and forth in their battle. Rowan was one-handing his sniper rifle in one hand, and his sword in the other, blocking Ruby's strikes as they came and taking shots whenever he got a chance, and Ruby trying to find an opening so that she could take him down quickly.

As the fight went on, both sides started to realize that they weren't getting anywhere with their current opponents, so SABR decided to switch it up a little.

As Rowan made Ruby retreat once again, he called out, "Ash, down and switch!"

Without hesitation, Ash bent over as Rowan vaulted over his back and kicked Weiss as she came in for another strike while Ash held off Ruby with his semblance and wrist mounted guns.

Silver and Bai's fights had gotten so close to each other that they were trading opponents every few seconds, Bai fending off Blake and Yang's attacks with his bow, and Silver using his lightning charged swords to keep them from getting very close to him.

When he and Bai were shoulder to shoulder facing their opponents, Silver had an idea.

"Hey Bai, I think some White Lightning action is in order, don't you think?" Silver asked.

Bai smiled. "Come on then."

Bai summoned some arrows of light and notched them in his bow. Then Silver created a sphere of lightning, keeping its shape with his willpower, and makes it float in front of the bow. Bai then released the arrows and they merged with Silver's lightning power and traveled faster than Blake and Yang could dodge, causing both to fall, and their Aura's to take a massive drop, but not enough to put them in the red.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Ruby had regrouped and were using their Ice Flower formation to try to freeze Rowan and Ash where they stood.

"Rowan! Ash!" Silver called, "Phased Bullet!"

Ash smirked and got into a stance while Rowan switched to Burn Dust rounds and took aim.

Weiss saw that they were up to something and formed a wall of ice between them to buy them time. She did not, however, move from the spot she was standing.

Rowan took aim at where he had seen Weiss standing and fired. Ash then manipulated the bullet with his semblance so that it would go right through the wall Weiss had created, sending her flying on contact, and putting her Aura level in the red, knocking her out of the fight.

Yang saw this and took a few shots at Ash, who couldn't manipulate an object he wasn't touching and himself at the same time. He couldn't activate his semblance in time, causing him to go flying into a wall, knocking him into the red and out of the fight.

Silver then took on Ruby in a high-speed duel that no one could track, as they only appeared in a speed they could register every few seconds.

Bai had challenged Blake to a duel-wielding duel, and they're weapons were moving in a very fluid motion, not wasting a single slash or stab.

Rowan was taking out the projectiles Yang sent at him as fast as he could with his rifle, a true testament to how good of a shot he was.

As Silver back flipped over a slash from Ruby that was almost able to get him, he spotted Rowan trying to keep Yang at a safe distance from him. He disappeared mid-flip and reappeared next to Rowan.

"Okay Rowan, I need your help to take Ruby down," Silver explained, "If she goes down, we'll have a speed advantage over them."

"Got it," Rowan said nonchalantly.

"You sure you're good with this?" Silver asked.

Rowan shrugged as he kept firing. "She won't hold it against me. It's just a sparring match. If anything, she'd be mad if I didn't."

Silver smirked. "Okay then, let's do it. Storm Fire!"

Silver and Rowan then stood back to back, commanding their respective elements into a small ring around them until it had two layers. One ring of fire, and another of lightning.

As Ruby circled them, trying to find a way to get through and get them, Yang trying to help, Silver and Rowan willed the rings to spin until the elements started to become intertwined and formed a whirlpool pattern. Once it was at a decent speed, they increased the range and caught Ruby off guard, burning and shocking her at the same time, putting her out of the fight.

Yang had jumped into the air at the last moment, and then used her gauntlets to boost herself towards the ground, causing a large impact and knocking Rowan out of the fight while Silver had rolled to the side before she made contact.

Bai was still locked in battle with Blake, both of them attacking, defending, and dodging with grace and speed. Bai reformed his bow just long enough to let two arrows fly at Blake, who stepped to the side and cut them in half.

Unfortunately, cutting those arrows in half was a mistake, as they blew up in her face as soon as she slashed through them, giving her no time to get away. Blake was blown back a few feet and she just got back up and walked to the sidelines.

"Stupid trick arrows…" she muttered.

Bai had however left himself open to attack as Silver was still in the middle of dodging shots Yang had fired, so he was surprised when a fist made contact with his face from the side as the blonde brawler used his opening to her advantage.

Silver got up from the floor as he recovered from the brawler's most recent attack on him, one shot having been able to hit him. He looked at Yang with a determined, but light-hearted, glare that she returned. He then sheathed his swords and drew his revolvers, aiming directly at Yang.

"Let's see if I'm as quick with these as your dad think I am," he said.

Yang grinned. "Bring it."

Yang started firing blasts from her gauntlets as fast as possible, Silver just managing to keep up with her. He jumped back after a few shots and quickly reloaded, Yang using the opportunity to charge in and try to get within punching distance.

Silver started firing as fast as possible, trying to slow her rapid advance, but couldn't do anything to deter her. Just as she got within arm's reach, and everyone thought it was over, he threw his revolvers into the air and did something crazy. He caught the punch.

Everyone in the room stared in shock and awe of what Silver had managed to do. No one had ever succeeded, much less attempted, in stopping a punch from Yang. Yang herself looked flabbergasted at what had just happened.

Silver used the distraction to send Yang flying, snapping her out of her confusion, and allowing her to land on her feet, still ready to fight.

"That was a good one," Yang said, recovering, "but I think this has been _Dragon_ on long enough, am I right?"

Team JNPR, and the eliminated members of RWBY and SABR, along with Professor Goodwitch all groaned at the pun. Everyone else just sat in wonder at why that pun was even relevant.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "I think you're right. This has gone on _Xiao Long_ enough."

Blake gave Silver a death glare as this time everyone in the room groaned at the pun. Now they had _two_ of them!

Yang gave Silver a wide grin. "I think we should wrap this up then."

She and Silver got into their combat stances for a final blow as the entire room watched to see who the winner would be between the two powerhouses.

Both of them ran forward, Yang cocking her gauntlets as Silver prepared a lightning punch. Once they were within range of each other, they threw a punch, making contact with the other's face at the same time. Silver was blown back by a small explosion from Yang's gauntlet, while she was sent flying by a large electric shock.

When their final blows were dealt, everyone looked at the board that tracked everyone's Aura levels and saw that while Yang had dropped completely into the red, Silver had dropped to the very edge of the yellow, where if he had taken even one more scratch of damage, he would have been in the red.

"That's the match!" Goodwitch called out, "Team SABR is the winner!"

Everyone in the stands applauded the performance of both teams and the spectacular battle shown to them.

"Very good, all of you," Goodwitch commended, "You should all be proud of your ability, and I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to qualify for the tournament at the end of the year."

The eight students thanked the professor and went back to their seats.

As they walked back, however, Blake, Weiss, Silver, Bai, and Rowan noticed that a lot of money seemed to be changing hands among the crowd, and Silver could swear he saw Jaune handing Pyrrha twenty Lien.

The class went on without much else incident, or quite as much excitement as CRDL was quickly defeated by JNPR, and a few other quick skirmishes took place, but none of them were quite as spectacular as Team RWBY versus Team SABR.

* * *

**Let's be honest, this chapter was inevitably going to happen sooner or later, and I personally think it probably happened later than it should have, but that's just what I think. So, I'm estimating at about a week or so before writing suddenly gets put on hold, so I'm going to make an effort to make a couple more updates before I have to switch to study mode. But until then, I'll keep on writing, so leave a review and tell me what you think, follow if haven't already, and I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	26. Investigations

**My clock is ticking, and I'm really trying to get these last chapters updated before I need to go dark for a couple weeks. My schedule is getting really hectic right now, so I'm estimating only two more chapters after this one. This chapter may run a little short compared to my usual material though…**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

"There are no secrets that time does not reveal." –Jean Racine

* * *

**Chapter 23: Investigations**

**Normal POV**

**Beacon Academy**

Professor Ozpin was sitting in his office, doing end-of-semester paperwork as he drank his coffee and thought about the message he had recently received from Qrow. He still didn't know where to start looking to find out who these 'pawns' were.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the computer built into his desk suddenly activated, signaling an incoming video call. He picked it up, seeing it was Goodwitch.

"What is it, Glynda?" he asked, turning back to his paperwork.

"We have a problem," Goodwitch said, her voice deadly serious.

Ozpin, hearing her tone, put down the papers he had been reading, and turned to face the screen.

"Show me," he said.

A couple of files popped up on the screen, having been forwarded to him by Goodwitch.

As he read, his eyes narrowed, before going wide open in surprise at what he was seeing.

"Get Peter and Bartholomew up here, then, once we're all here, call them in. We need to have a talk."

She nodded and terminated the call.

Ozpin sat back in his seat. Just what was going on, and why?

* * *

**Elsewhere**

Team SABR was using their time after classes in these last few days of the semester to look through some of their files, or at least one particular file.

Silver, Ash, Bai, and Rowan all stood around a table that had been set up in the middle of Silver and Ash's room, going through a few stacks of pictures and notes, occasionally glancing at the screen that had been set at the end of the table, displaying the best picture they had of their mystery character from the week before.

"I still don't get it," Ash said, frustrated, "Where the heck did she come from? There's no way it was just a coincidence that she was there at the same time as us!"

Rowan put down his set of notes and sighed. "Maybe we're asking the wrong question. Maybe we should be asking why she was there, instead of where she came from."

"She could have been there to intimidate them, like we were," Bai said, "Or she may have been trying to gather information on them to try to stop them."

Silver replayed the recording of the mystery figure's fight as he tried to figure out what he could about this person. He then realized something.

"No," he said, slowly, "She wasn't there to intimidate them or gain information, that was just a bonus to her actual goal."

"And that would be…?" Bai asked.

"She was trying to get our attention."

Silver let that settle for a little bit before turning back to the picture, trying to find anything that might help them figure out who this person was. As he continued looking at the picture, things started to click in his mind that he originally hadn't noticed. The red hair and the height giving him a few theories on how to find them, but he needed Ash to give his input.

"Hey Ash?" Silver asked.

Ash looked up from the notes he was reading. "Yeah?"

"Are you absolutely sure she doesn't look familiar to you? Doesn't she look a little… short?"

It was true. The way the picture was taken made the figure look like they were no more than five feet tall.

Ash took a closer look at the picture as realization dawned on his face.

"You don't think…?" he asked.

Silver shook his head. "I don't know what to think at this point, and I'd rather not make assumptions for the moment, but she revealed herself to us once, so I'm sure she'll do it again."

They continued looking for clues for a little while longer until Silver's Scroll went off, signaling a message had been received.

Silver took a look to see who had sent it, and saw Ozpin wanted them to come to his office as soon as possible. Silver didn't know what to think about the message. Ozpin's messages were usually less vague than that, but he couldn't ignore a request from the headmaster.

"Alright guys, we're going to have to finish for the day, Ozpin wants to see us."

"He does?" Rowan asked, "Did he say why?"

Silver shook his head. "No, and that's the part I find strange, but we can't just ignore his request."

Bai sighed. "Let's just clean up and see what he wants."

They then set to work cleaning up the scattered papers and stowing the table before heading out for Ozpin's office.

* * *

As they climbed the stairs to get to Ozpin's office, they tried to speculate what he wanted to see them about.

"He can't be sending us out on another mission can he?" Ash asked.

"No," Bai replied, "I checked the records of Huntsmen going in and out of the kingdom, and it looks like there are more than enough around to take on a mission or two before he has to call us."

"Then what could it be then?" Rowan asked.

"I think we're about to find out," Silver said, pointing out the door to Ozpin's office.

They all became very quiet as they walked up to the door and knocked.

"Come in," Professor Ozpin's voice said from the other side.

Silver opened the door, and as soon as he and the rest of SABR were through the door, it slammed shut behind them.

Before any of them had time to react, Silver and Ash were thrown into the air and kept there, levitating, while Bai and Rowan were tackled to the ground and restrained.

It was only then that they realized that Professors Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch were all there as well as Ozpin.

Goodwitch was using her semblance to keep Silver and Ash in the air while Port had restrained Bai, and Oobleck had put Rowan in a headlock before he could turn invisible.

Ozpin sat behind his desk, one hand on his cane, the other holding his Scroll, looking over his glasses at the struggling teens before him.

"Now that I have your complete attention," Ozpin started, a slight anger in his voice, "would you mind explaining to us, why the four of you have been in a series of suspicious locations without my knowing?"

He held up his Scroll so that they could see a map of Vale displaying several locations that they had been without his knowing.

The four boys stopped struggling to examine the map, coming to the realization that they were busted.

"Well, Shit…" Silver muttered.

* * *

**That's the end of Chapter 23. Remember that the poll is still up on my profile. Follow, Review if you have questions or suggestions, and I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	27. Revelations

**This is going to be cutting it close over the next week. My deadline is the end of the week, and I have at least one more chapter to do before then, not including this one. Enjoy!**

"Given a choice between life and death, choose life. Given a choice between right and wrong, choose what's right. And given a choice between a terrible truth and a beautiful lie, choose the truth every time."-Mira Grant, Blackout

* * *

**Chapter 24: Revelations**

**Beacon Academy**

**Ozpin's Office**

**Normal POV**

The silence in Ozpin's office was deafening, and the rising tension was sure to break with either the restrained members of SABR speaking, or Goodwitch smacking one of them.

Silver, Bai, and Rowan were handcuffed and seated in chairs right in front of Ozpin's desk, while Ash was still kept suspended in the air, courtesy of Goodwitch. Their weapons had been confiscated, and Port and Oobleck had them all under gunpoint.

Ozpin cleared his throat. "Do I really need to repeat myself?"

The four boys were silent.

Ozpin sighed, taking another sip of coffee. "In addition to my previous question about your activity over the past semester, I would like to know more about your backgrounds. The truth if you would be so kind."

The members of SABR looked at each other.

"Silver," Bai said, getting his attention, "We knew it was a matter of time. Now is the time. We need to tell them."

Silver sighed. "I suppose you're right…"

Goodwitch looked back and forth between the two. "What are you talking about?"

Rowan looked at her. "Professor, the situation is a lot more… complicated than you all realize."

Silver cleared his throat. "Before we begin, do they know about where we came from?" Silver tilted his head towards Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port.

"They do," Ozpin replied.

"Okay then, I guess I'll start. To set up for all of us, we all live in the suburbs a few miles out from the largest city in the area. We all went to the same school, and have known each other for the past 6 or 7 years now."

Silver paused, and Ozpin waved for him to continue.

Silver took a deep breath and continued, "I was one of the smartest among our group of friends, I had a high reflex rate, and tried to keep myself fit mentally and physically. That said, I was also someone who, in-between my schoolwork and athletics, spent a lot of time on his computer, watching videos. I'll get back to that, as it will be important later. My dad, Gray Aurelius, was an engineer for a premier furniture company, while my mom…" Silver glanced at Ozpin, who almost invisibly shook his head, "My mom worked a few different jobs before finally settling for a role in the private security business. My sister, Sienna, is 4 years younger than me, resembling my mother as much as I resemble my dad, which is to say, an uncanny similarity," he finished, taking another glance at Ozpin.

Ash went next.

"I myself was just as invested in my computer as Silver was, even if our entertainment came from different sources. I was just as athletic as him back then, but a little less academically talented. My parents were similar to his in all but professions, and my sister, Elise, is the same age as his sister, so our families were fairly well tethered together."

He sat in silence for a little while before Bai spoke up, seeing he wasn't planning on saying anything else.

"I'm pretty sure I'll have no objections to the idea that I'm one of the smarter here?" he asked his teammates, who shrugged. "Well, my parents are both very intelligent people, and while I have no siblings, I had quite a bit of family spread over a couple countries. I helped keep these two from going under during one particularly difficult class, and I enjoyed playing a few games with some friends along with these guys."

Rowan took his chance to speak when Bai was done.

"I learned a few years ago about my excellent aim while camping one year, and my family supported me enough so that I could practice more often. My dad was a teacher, while my mom worked for a local school, and my brother was constantly trying to outshoot us," he said, tilting his head toward himself and Silver, "I didn't have the kind of time these guys had to play games or stuff, but there were a couple video series that Silver watched that I got hooked on."

Goodwitch raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling us all of this? I know we wanted personal information, but why are you giving it so freely?"

"So that when we tell you this next part, you aren't as inclined to call us liars," Silver responded.

Ozpin's eyebrows furrowed. "What could you possibly tell us that would suggest you are lying in such the spectacular fashion that you are implying?"

"There's quite a lot we could tell you that would make you instantly think we are lying actually," Bai said.

"So were you going to ask us why we were where we were, or were we just going to hang around here all day?" Ash asked.

Goodwitch glared at him.

Ozpin sighed. "Very well. Mr. Ryder, we have records of you being on the roof above Mr. Arc and Miss Nikos in the middle of the semester. Care to explain yourself."

"Well, you see, we noticed that Cardin was bullying Jaune a lot, so we elected to keep an eye on him, leading me to keep a watch on Jaune. When Cardin showed up after Pyrrha left, I made sure he didn't do anything too brash. As for after the Forever Fall field trip, I was just there to make sure he didn't try another thing, as well as watch the beginning of Arkos."

"Arkos?" Ozpin asked.

Bai smirked. "Silver will explain it later."

Ozpin seemed to think for a moment before moving on.

"Mr. Chase, we have a record stating that you were at the docks in Vale a couple weeks ago. Why is that?"

"I was watching a Schnee Company Dust shipment as it was unloaded since we had reason to believe that the White Fang might make a move on it," Rowan said.

"Which they did, but how did you know?" Ozpin asked.

"That," Rowan said, "is a question best answered once you have asked all your questions."

"Moving on to my next question, why were you outside Team RWBY's dorm room window less the same night you had been at the docks?"

Goodwitch stiffened at this, seeming to be thinking about the implications of the question.

Rowan, noticing this, hastily replied, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's not like that! Silver, Ash, and Bai had noticed some friction between Weiss and Blake when they ran into them downtown, and wanted me to make sure nothing unexpected happened when they got back!"

"Unexpected?" Ozpin asked as Goodwitch visibly relaxed.

Rowan was about to reply when Silver cut in.

"Professor, every follow up question you have asked so far can be attributed to one thing, and I'm guessing that's what will continue to happen. I promise that we'll answer the questions, but it's a lot easier if we do it all at once."

Silver and Ozpin's eyes met and held for a few seconds before Ozpin finally conceded. "Alright…"

"My final question is for all of you. When you first arrived here, you took a particular interest in the criminal activity of Vale and the surrounding area, why?"

"You're sure that's all of your questions?" Silver asked.

"I am," Ozpin replied.

"Then we can begin to answer all of your questions."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing.

"There is a very simple answer to every question you have just asked," Silver said.

All four of the surrounding teachers seemed to lean in closer, so that they wouldn't miss his answer.

"We knew what was going to happen before it happened."

Ozpin sat back in his chair, seeming to collapse into thought, Goodwitch looked miffed at the simplicity and absurdity of the answer, and Oobleck and Port just looked confused and shocked respectively.

Ozpin recovered first, asking, "How?"

"That is going to take a very long explanation, so I'm going to simplify it as much as possible," Silver said, "Starting from the beginning, we're all fans of an Internet production company from our dimension called Rooster Teeth Productions."

"What does a production company have to do with this?" Goodwitch asked, irritated.

"Everything," Bai responded, letting Silver continue.

"Anyways, this company does a variety of different things, they make live-action shorts, cartoons, and have a series the made using a videogame engine, but one of the more recent projects they started working on a couple years ago involved an amazing combination of art and an independent culture from our own. This new video series was appropriately named RWBY."

This seemed to floor all of the teachers.

"So what you're saying is…" Goodwitch started, "They started a show named after one of the best teams that have ever been assembled here at Beacon?"

"Well, there's that, and Ruby's pretty much the main character," Rowan said.

"Yeah, you guys are taking this much worse than Tai-Yang did when I told him a month or so ago," Silver commented.

"You told him, but not anyone else?" Goodwitch asked, her grip on her riding crop tightening.

"The situation was… different with him…" Silver replied.

Ozpin was the only one who seemed to stay on topic at this point, asking, "Just how far into the future do you know the outcome?"

Silver thought for a few seconds before replying, "Maybe a few weeks into next semester, just after the dance, when all the first years go on their first official missions."

"What happens between now and then?"

"I can't tell you that."

"And why not?"

"We don't know how things could change if we tell you the information we know, and let me tell you, it's a lot, but if anything gets more out of hand than what we remember it being, we'll step in an take care of it."

"Why should we trust that this is true, much less that you won't make this worse?" Goodwitch asked.

"Wow, do you ever live up to your personality description," Silver muttered before raising it so that it was more easily heard, "You don't, but we do have a way to prove that we're telling the truth."

"And that would be…?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Silver looked directly at Ozpin. "Professor Ozpin: Headmaster of Beacon Academy. While seeming very… indifferent at times, such as when observing Ruby fight Torchwick just before the beginning of the semester, he also shows a more caring side, shown during an interview with Blake shortly after the events at the docks. Not much is known about his weapon or capabilities."

Ozpin seemed floored by Silver's knowledge about events he had not been present for.

"You want the next one Ash?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Sure. Professor Glynda Goodwitch: Combat instructor at Beacon Academy. Often seen as strict and judgmental at times, mainly because of her estimation on the partnership of life-long friends Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, her weapon has been seen as a riding crop, while her semblance is guessed to be some sort of Dust manipulation, and don't even get me started on the perceived relationships between her and Ozpin."

Upon hearing the last part of Ash's analysis, Goodwitch seemed to turn a light pink, while Ozpin smirked behind his folded hands, and Port and Oobleck chuckled from their positions behind the members of SABR.

"I guess I've got next," Rowan said before being cut off by Ozpin.

"That's enough. You've made your point," he said, glancing at the pink-faced Goodwitch, "Go ahead and let them go. We've gotten all the info we can out of them."

As Ash was dropped to the ground, and Silver, Bai, and Rowan were released, Ozpin asked another question.

"What will you do now?" he asked.

"Now, we wait for the pawns to appear," Silver replied.

"And then?" Ozpin asked, barely letting his shock at Silver's knowledge of the message from Qrow show.

Silver looked Ozpin in the eye. "Then we're going to save a man's life from them."

Ozpin just blinked. "What do you need?"

"I'll have a list to you in a couple days. We have a couple weeks until they appear anyways," Silver said, walking to the door.

"I'll be waiting for it."

* * *

**Now that's all done, let's see how fast I can get another chapter or two out before I need to stop writing. I kind of feel like this wasn't the best way to do it, but it at least fit, so I'm just going to roll with it, maybe revise it later.**

**That's all I have, be sure to follow if you haven't already, leave a review, and I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	28. New Digs

**So this is going to be the last chapter I post for a couple weeks with AP Exams coming up. I felt that this would be a fairly good place to leave off for a couple weeks while I'm studying and such. I will be open to messages and reviews if any of you have any questions about the story thus far, so if you have a question, you know how to reach me. Without further ado, I present the next chapter!**

"Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for." – Dag Hammarskjold

* * *

**Chapter 25: New Digs**

**Normal POV**

**Beacon Academy**

**Airship Docks**

The day after the end of the semester, Teams RWBY and SABR stood at the entrance to the Airship Docks of Beacon. SABR, and Blake, were there to see Ruby, Weiss, and Yang off, as Weiss was going to Atlas for a couple days, and Ruby and Yang were going home to Patch for a week.

"You promise you'll come visit?" Ruby asked, giving Rowan and Silver her best puppy-eyes, "I'm sure Dad would love to meet you!"

"I've already met your dad Ruby," Silver said, giving her a small smile, "But yes, we promise we'll come by once we've gotten a place to stay in Vale."

"Wait," Yang said, an expression of shock on her face, "You guys aren't going home at all? Won't your families miss you?"

At this, a slight air of sadness came over the members of Team SABR. Team RWBY looked a bit worried at their expressions.

Bai decided to speak up, since he had left the least behind. "Yang… Our home is _very_ hard to get to. We won't actually be able to go back for a long time, since there just isn't enough time to get between here and there and back again without taking more time than a simple break from school. There would have to be a huge emergency to warrant us to go back. We won't be seeing our families in person for a while…"

Looks of pity came from the girls as they saw the boys in such a sad state.

"Well, you've always got us!" Ruby said cheerfully.

This seemed to snap them out of their trances as they smiled at her for her kindness.

"That we do, Ruby," Rowan said.

"Wait a minute!" Weiss said suddenly, "Where'd you guys get the money to go and get places to live in Vale? I don't recall you four having jobs…"

Team SABR then seemed to find the sky and the ground very interesting.

"She does have a point," Blake said, "How are you guys going to afford places to live?"

Ash chuckled nervously as Weiss glared at him. "Well, you see, the couple of times that Ozpin sent us on those missions a little while back, that one time we scouted a strange tower, fought the Drakon, and a couple other times, he paid us a fairly substantial amount since sending first years on missions like those tends to draw the attention of the Council if not handled correctly, and along with that, we had another, fairly large source of revenue."

"And what might that be?" Weiss asked.

"Game Night," Silver answered.

All four girls looked at him in confusion.

"What is Game Night?" Ruby asked.

* * *

**Flashback**

It was late night at Beacon Academy, and while most of its occupants were trying to sleep, there was a fair amount of noise coming from the Staff Rec Room. The source of the sound seemed to be Coco, Ozpin, Silver, and Goodwitch sitting perpendicular to each other, facing their own holographic monitor, a videogame controller in each of their hands. Their concentration was solely on their screen as their respective avatars, wearing armor corresponding to the color of their clothing, went around looking for the others.

Velvet, Ash, Bai, Rowan, Port, and Oobleck all watched the ongoing battle in silence, not wanting to disturb the competitors, while taking glances at the jar full of money that sat on a nearby counter. Tonight's pot had to be at least in the low thousands of Lien, if not more. Coco and Ozpin were sure confident in their win.

Coco's brown and black armored avatar was carrying a mini-gun around, hoping to be able to decimate her enemies with overwhelming firepower. This hope was short lived as four blue balls of light made contact with her avatar, exploded, killing her, and eliminating her from the competition.

Coco dropped her controller with a muffled yell of frustration as Goodwitch smirked at her kill. Her smirk quickly disappeared as a sniper round went through her black and purple armored avatar, eliminating her as well.

The person who had fired the shot was Ozpin's avatar, who was the only one not to have armor matching his usual clothing. Instead of black and green armor, his avatar's armor was grey and yellow. Putting away the sniper rifle, Ozpin's avatar took out a smaller rifle and began to look for the only remaining person in the competition. Silver.

He didn't have to look long as gunshots began coming from behind him, revealing Silver's black and silver armored avatar holding two pistols and running straight towards Ozpin's avatar.

Ozpin started firing his rifle, three round bursts coming with each trigger pull. Silver started to unload his pistols into Ozpin, coming closer with every shot. Once he was about five feet from Ozpin, Silver's pistols ran out, but instead of reloading, he dropped one of the pistols and threw a blue-glowing grenade and jumped back.

The grenade made contact before Ozpin could dodge, stuck to him, and blew up, eliminating Ozpin from the competition, leaving Silver as the last man standing.

Goodwitch, Port, and Oobleck all stared at the results in front of them. They had never seen Ozpin lose in this game in such a spectacular fashion. Ozpin himself seemed a little shocked at the unexpected tactic from Silver. He shook off the shock and handed the jar of money over to Silver, who thanked the headmaster, and left with the rest of his team, leaving a dumbfounded group of teachers and a confused pair of students.

* * *

**Flashback End**

"Why didn't you guys tell us about it?" Yang asked, jealousy written all over her face.

"It was teacher invite only," Rowan replied, "Part of the deal of joining them was not telling the other students. Sorry."

"Could you guys not mention it to anyone?" Ash asked nervously.

The girls of Team RWBY shrugged and nodded.

"Thanks."

Weiss looked at her Scroll, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, "I'm going to miss my airship!"

She quickly said a quick goodbye to everyone, gave Ash a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran off toward her airship.

Yang looked at her Scroll as well, sighing in relief that they weren't late.

"We better get going, or we'll be late for our airship too," she said.

Ruby hugged Rowan, and they said their goodbyes and walked in the direction of their airship.

Team SABR and Blake watched them go until they were out of sight. Once they were sure they had boarded, Silver turned to his teammates.

"We better get going, finding a place with four open apartments is going to be a pain, especially since we only have a day," he said.

Ash, Bai, and Rowan nodded and started heading for the garage to prepare their bikes for the ride into the city.

Just as Silver was about to follow, Blake cut him off looking at the ground in what he guessed was embarrassment.

"Hey, Silver," she said, eyes still not looking up from the ground, "I was wondering… if I might be able to come with you into Vale."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure. Why, What's wrong?"

"Well, before the semester started, I had rented a small apartment out in Vale so that I wouldn't be on the street until I came to Beacon, but my lease is up and I need a new place. My old landlord was nice enough to keep my stuff safe, understanding why I couldn't afford to pay him anymore, but I can't get my old apartment back, and staying in my team's dorm over break while they're all gone just seems… less than inviting."

Silver thought he knew where this was going. "And you wanted to know if you could crash at my new place for the break, right?"

Blake blushed as she glanced up at him. "Yeah."

Silver waved for her to follow him as he headed toward the garage.

"All you have to do is ask, Blake. Besides, having a roommate that isn't Ash will be a nice change of pace," Silver smiled at her kindly as he said this, "We were planning on getting two bedrooms a piece in our apartments anyways, just in case anything like this happened, so my spare is all yours, assuming we find one today."

It was Blake's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You're sure you're okay with this? I don't have any money to pay you."

By this time they had reached the garage, the rest of SABR were waiting for them on their motorcycles, ready to go.

"And I don't want your money, Blake," Silver said, walking over to his motorcycle and reaching into the storage compartment, withdrawing two helmets, his own, gold-visored helmet, and his spare generic black helmet.

He tossed the spare helmet to Blake, who caught it.

"Now, are you just going to stand there trying to find a reason for me to not let you have a room, or are you going to put the helmet on and come with us?" Silver asked.

Blake allowed herself to give him a smirk before putting on the helmet, and getting on the bike behind Silver, who started the engine, and signaled for the group to move out of the garage, towards Vale.

* * *

**Vale**

**4 Hours Later**

After four hours of searching, SABR caught a break, and finally found four apartments with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and small dining area each. Best of all, they were all in the same building, allowing them to meet up fast if there is ever an emergency.

While the apartments already had basic beds set up in each bedroom, the rest of the rooms, outside of the kitchen, had no furniture to speak of. Bai was left at the apartments to start ordering furniture for each one, Ash went out to get certain small appliances, bed spreads, dishes, and other small items, having been given a list of certain styles of items by each of the current occupants of each apartment.

Meanwhile, Silver helped Blake with collecting her things from her old landlord and taking it back to their shared apartment before going to help Rowan collect some items from their Beacon dorm rooms.

After all of the personal belongings had been sorted through, and all of the furniture had been arranged for delivery, everyone went to their separate rooms of their respective apartments to put the sheets and blankets on their beds and decorate to the best of their ability without the furniture already being there.

Once everyone had finished, they met in Silver's living room for dinner, Ash having ordered a pizza for delivery.

As they ate, they discussed plans for future decorations and renovations to each of their apartments.

"I'm thinking of painting my bedroom and mounting a weapon rack on the wall," Rowan said.

"I was thinking along the lines of repainting some of the rooms of my apartment as well," Silver said, receiving similar statements from Ash and Bai, and a nod of approval from Blake.

"I'm thinking about getting a few computers for our missions and investigations installed in my place," Bai said.

"That would help with future investigations," Ash commented, "I was thinking about getting an awesome entertainment center built into my living room, in case we ever want to have a movie night or something."

"That would give us something to do when we're not working on something," Rowan said. He turned to Blake as he continued, "What about you, Blake? Have any renovations or decoration ideas for your room?"

She seemed to think about that question for a while before saying, "I was thinking about putting in a few small bookshelves along with a couple other items…"

Silver smirked. "Add it to the list, Bai."

"Already got it."

Blake's eyes widened in shock. "Wait! You're not seriously going to get that are you? I was going to save up to buy the stuff myself!"

Silver raised an eyebrow. "Blake, I'd feel bad if your room was only a bed and maybe a desk or something, if you're going to live here, you're going to live here comfortably. Ozpin and Coco's money will see to that."

The rest of his teammates chuckled at that.

"All you have to do is ask," he continued, "Trust me, we won't be running out of money for a little while."

Blake sighed in resignation. "Okay…"

With that, they all finished their food, helped clean up, and went to bed, the day's events having worn them out.

On her way to her room, Blake stopped next to Silver.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Silver. You didn't have to do this, and I wish I knew how to repay you."

"Anything for a friend," Silver replied, "But if you really want to repay me, just enjoy your stay at Hotel Aurelius."

Blake gave a small laugh at his antics, and slipped into her room.

As Silver walked to his room, he thought, _"This is going to be one heck of a break…"_

* * *

**That's the end of the chapter! Again, if you have any questions or requests, feel free to review or PM me. The poll is still up on my profile, and will be there for the next two weeks. If you haven't followed already, please do so, and I'll see you guys in a couple weeks! (Studying is going to be murder…)**


	29. Visiting Hours

**Ah, finally back and writing everybody! I have to say; it feels good to be back. Don't have much to say except for the fact that while I was off from writing, I had a lot of ideas go through my head, not necessarily for this story too, so be sure to watch my profile so that you don't miss anything! Now, on to the next chapter!**

* * *

"The most important thing is to enjoy your life- to be happy- it's all that matters." –Audrey Hepburn

**Chapter 26: Visiting Hours**

**Silver's POV**

It took a few days, but my team and Blake finally got most of the furniture placed and rooms painted. Blake had gotten a few bookshelves in her room, which I had taken the liberty of filling with some books I thought she might like, Rowan had gotten his weapon racks, Bai had gotten his computers, and while Ash had gotten his entertainment system and other materials, he said he still wasn't done. For some reason he was still working on something in his apartment. I didn't know what exactly, but as long it didn't get us in trouble with the landlord, I didn't really care.

Speaking of Ash, he and Blake had decided not to come with us to Patch, Ash probably working on whatever he's been working on, and Blake had decided to catch up on some reading.

Coming out of my thoughts, I looked toward the approaching docks of Patch, just off the coast of mainland Vale. Rowan, Bai, and I had caught a ferry going to the island to visit Ruby, Yang, and their dad, Taiyang. To save time getting there, we had our motorcycles with us, since they apparently lived a fair distance from the docks.

As the ferry reached the docks, it lowered the front ramp and allowed people to depart and board simultaneously. We walked our bikes off the ferry and to the street before putting our helmets on and riding off toward our destination.

As we continued riding, I activated the navigation system on my bike and pulled up the directions to our destination, signaling for the other two to follow me.

After about ten minutes of riding, we pulled up to a simple two-story house made with stone as a foundation and a pleasantly painted wood. Normally I would say beige is a bit too standard, but this house actually looked nice, the front porch looked extremely inviting as well.

I took my helmet off as I continued examining the house and saw the door open and release a red blur straight at Rowan. Luckily, or unluckily, depends how one looks at it, he still had his helmet on, so he was at least somewhat prepared to be tackled off of his bike and onto the ground by Ruby.

Bai removed his helmet and gave a small laugh at the two which I joined as I looked back at the house to see Yang and her father with slightly annoyed looks on their faces, no doubt from Ruby and Rowan's relationship, and a familiar-looking corgi wagging his tail at their feet.

Rowan pulled off his helmet to reveal a dazed expression as Ruby began talking to him in her usual quick and almost incomprehensible fashion, adding to his confusion.

Leaving them to each other, Bai and I stowed our helmets away and walked up to the porch, prompting the familiar corgi to sniff us up and down in excitement, jumping up and his front paws holding himself up by bracing them against our legs.

Distracted from Ruby and Rowan for the moment, Taiyang and Yang gave slight smiles at the excited dog.

"Zwei, down," Taiyang said.

The dog promptly stopped jumping all over and sat on the ground, tail still wagging wildly.

"Sorry about him," Taiyang said, turning his attention to us, "He's a bit of a strange dog."

I smirked and held my hand out. "Nice to see you again."

He took the hand and shook it. "You too."

He turned his attention to Bai and asked, "You must be one of his teammates. Taiyang, Ruby and Yang's father."

Bai shook Taiyang's hand. "Bai Ryder, pleasure to meet you."

Taiyang turned his attention back to where our motorcycles were parked, narrowing his eyes at Rowan and Ruby as they finally started getting off of the ground. "That would be Mr. Rowan Chase, right?"

I didn't like the look he was giving Rowan, seeing as he was known as a slightly overprotective father, so I decided to try to head him off so that he didn't try to hurt Rowan… yet.

"Yeah, it is," I said before changing the subject, "How's your class been going?"

Nearby, Bai was trying, and somehow succeeding in distracting Yang in the same way. I didn't catch a lot of their conversation, but it sounded like they were talking about some medical stuff.

"Yeah," Yang said, "I always thought about being a doctor, but I don't know, being a huntress would be a much more exciting life."

Bai smiled. "That about sums up my reasoning."

I didn't catch much more as Taiyang finally answered my question.

"That particular class has been doing especially well since you last visited. I may have to have you come back for another one of my classes," he said, giving me a wink.

I groaned. I hated going to Signal. I wasn't too keen on being treated like such a celebrity for being nothing more than a student at Beacon.

He grinned. "Don't worry, next time I'll make it a field trip so that you only have to deal with the class, and not the entire school."

I sighed in relief. At least I would get to deal with only thirty to forty kids instead of whoever happened to be walking the halls at the time.

"Thanks," I replied.

At this point, Ruby and Rowan were making their way up the porch steps, prompting Taiyang to have everyone go inside. The front door led straight into the living room, which I could only describe as warm and cozy, a couch and a couple of armchairs grouped around the living room.

Once we were all inside, Yang, seeming to have forgotten about Ruby and Rowan, led Bai over to the couch, where they continued their conversation about their former hopes to enter the medical field, or whatever they were actually talking about.

Ruby began dragging Rowan away, much to Taiyang's annoyance, saying something about showing him her workshop. I'd have to ask about that later.

Taiyang looked around the room before gesturing for me to follow him, leaving Bai and Yang to their conversation.

He led me to a set of stairs and went up them, with me close behind him, and turned down a hallway and through one of the doors into what I assumed was his study, as it contained a well made desk, a couple of bookcases, and a very nice computer, along with some nice looking chairs.

He took a seat behind the desk and gestured for me to sit, saying, "So, how have you been, Silver? It's been a while since we last spoke."

As I sat down, I replied in a nonchalant voice, "Since we last spoke I've helped kill a Drakon, helped to stop a Dust robbery, and beaten Yang in a fight."

To say his expression was priceless would be understating it. It was hilarious. His entire composure was lost as his jaw dropped and he went wide-eyed.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

I shrugged before cracking a grin. "I like to keep busy."

He then snapped out of his stupor. "I know a lie when I hear one, Silver. I'm guessing you were either lucky or assigned to do each and every one of those, and just managed to come out on top."

I raised an eyebrow. "And if it was?"

He leaned forward in his chair. "It means you are much more like your mother than I anticipated."

I chuckled at this one. "I picked up a couple things from her, yes, but most people compare me to my dad."

He simply nodded. "But really, a Drakon? Are you suicidal?"

I shrugged again. "Ozpin seemed to think we could handle it, given it was only because of me that we went."

He visibly paled a bit. "I thought you were joking…"

"Nope," I said, "You're looking at the first person in a century to have seen, and beaten, a Drakon."

He kept staring at me in disbelief. "I was right. You do have the same natural affinity for combat as Summer…"

"I suppose that would explain all the sword form classes she signed me up for… and the shooting lessons as well."

Taiyang smiled. "So she did try to develop that talent somewhat…"

I nodded. "It was actually kind of fun, even when I started getting serious about it."

He nodded and we sat in silence for a few seconds before he asked another question.

"Tell me, Silver, what is Rowan like? I want to have a trustworthy source tell me about him before I talk to him."

I considered this for a moment. "He's a good guy. A bit sarcastic at times, and not the most serious, bordering on complete jokester, although that's our entire team, but I've known him for several years and he's never given me a reason not to trust him."

"And in serious situations, such as combat?" Taiyang asked.

"He is one of the most focused and serious people I have ever met. He keeps a cool head and makes sure to cover his teammates as well as himself."

He smiled. "Maybe he won't be so bad…"

"Don't be too afraid to rough him up a bit. It'll be fun to see how he comes out of the conversation," I said.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Speaking of which…" Taiyang said.

I went over to the door and opened it, revealing Rowan with a nervous expression on his face.

"Hey Mr. Xiao Long, Yang said you wanted to speak with me?"

Taiyang put on his best poker face and replied, "I did. Silver, you're dismissed, go entertain Ruby for a little while would you?"

I smirked as I headed for the door. "You got it."

I closed the door behind me as Rowan took the seat I had previously occupied, a smirk still on my face. Maybe I'd ask Ruby to show me her workshop. That would keep her entertained for a while.

* * *

**Airship Docks**

**Vale**

**Ash's POV**

I leaned against my bike as I waited just outside the Valean Airship Docks. The airship I was waiting for was due to arrive from Atlas any minute now.

After a few minutes of waiting, an airship finally flew in from the north and landed, lowering a ramp for passengers to exit. A few seconds later, Weiss appeared, pulling a small white bag behind her. She looked around and spotted me, smiling a bit as she walked over to me.

I smiled right back as she got closer. "How's it going, Snow Angel?"

Her face darkened a bit before going back to a smile, this one a bit less genuine.

"That bad, huh?" I asked.

"Let's… not talk about it…" she replied.

"Alright…"

I really was concerned about whatever was troubling her until I remembered that she had some issues with her family. That's not saying my concern went down, I just began to understand what was troubling her.

I strapped her bag to the back of my bike and pulled my spare white helmet out of the storage compartment under the seat.

I held the helmet out to her. "I hope you won't object to a ride to my apartment."

She gratefully took the helmet and put it on, careful of her signature ponytail, and flipped the visor up. "Any time. I can't wait to see it."

I grinned and put my helmet on before getting on the bike. She got on behind me and I started the engine.

I looked back and she gave me a nod to signal she was set, so I revved the engine and rode off toward my team's apartment complex.

As I drove, I activated the inter-helmet com-link. "Hey, Weiss, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you."

"Okay, I'm guessing that if your dorm at Beacon is empty of everyone but you, you wouldn't want to stay there, right?"

"Right, but Blake's there so-"

I chuckled loudly enough for her to hear me through the com-link.

"What?" she asked, sounding irritated.

"You mean you didn't hear?" I asked, "Blake's staying with Silver for the exact same reason."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"Seriously?" She yelled, I swore I heard it over the com-link and through the helmet.

"Yep. She was pretty hesitant about it at first too, not wanting to intrude and all that, but Silver insisted that if she was going to live there, she was going to at least enjoy it, so her room is fairly well decorated."

"I had no idea he was so generous…" she said.

I laughed. "That's just how Silver works. He's a complicated guy."

"So, I'm guessing that you are offering a room at your apartment then?" she asked.

"I hope so, otherwise the decorations and such in my guest room are going to be for nothing!" I replied.

"Now I really want to see what you've been up to."

"You'll just have to be patient, Ice Queen."

She gave me a small pinch, not enough to distract me, but just enough to get her point across.

"Okay, sorry."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the apartment complex. I unstrapped Weiss's bag and led her over to the elevator in the lobby, stepping in and pushing the button for my floor.

When the elevator opened, I walked out, Weiss just behind me, towards the door to my apartment. As I reached it, I pulled out my Scroll and flashed it across the sensor, unlocking the door.

I then led her to the guest bedroom door, and without saying a word, opened it.

"Wow," she said as she examined the room, "You did all this in a couple of days?"

I wasn't all that surprised by her reaction, even I couldn't quite believe I'd done all of this in a matter of two days.

I had set up an elaborate head and foot board on her bed frame, put a fair-quality desk in the corner, a Forever Fall wood dresser next to it, and painted all of the walls but one a light cyan color, the fourth wall was left white. The bedside tables, and the lamps on them, were fairly simple, one on each side of the bed, but she didn't seem to mind.

She turned around, and to my surprise, hugged me. "Thanks, Ash."

I hugged her back. "You're welcome."

I don't know how long we stood there like that, but my front door opening, and Blake's voice heading for the open door of the guest bedroom interrupted it.

"Hey, Ash? Did you want any help with dinner? The others are going to be back soon…"

She stopped talking as she reached the doorway and saw Weiss and I together.

"Oh, sorry Weiss, I didn't know you were here. Ash, if you need me, I'll be at Silver's…"

She left rather quickly after she finished talking, letting us be for a while.

"I suppose I better start on dinner. You go after Blake and catch up, I'll be right with you."

She nodded and left.

The moment was nice while it lasted.

* * *

**Yep, feels pretty good to be back and writing. This was a nice warm up for next chapter, which is going to be even better than this one, I guarantee it, but filler is filler, so I decided I would have to do this eventually. Not much else to say, so I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	30. Four Shades of GRAY Part One

**Sorry to all of you guys who have been hoping for a new chapter, I've been busy, out of range of any Internet, and suffered from a mild case of Writer's Block for a while, but I'm good to go now. And before any of you comment on the chapter title, do me a favor and don't take it in THAT way. Enjoy!**

**Team GRAY belongs to Oathkeeper01317.**

"If you walk the path you believe to be right, you cannot be wrong."

* * *

**Chapter 27: Four Shades of Gray Part One**

**Silver's POV**

As Ash and I rode down the street towards our apartment building, coming back from a few errands, I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. I didn't know where the feeling was coming from, however. Everything in the city of Vale seemed peaceful as I rode by. People were eating at cafés, going for walks around town, or going about errands and having small chats with the shopkeepers. There couldn't be anything wrong.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I regretted it as I felt an energy surge pass over me. Of course I had to be wrong. I signaled for Ash, who was riding a short distance behind me, to stop, and we both dismounted as he had felt the spike in energy as well.

"What was that?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I have no clue. But something's giving off a massive amount of power, and the locals don't seem to have noticed yet."

It was true. We had pulled off toward the sidewalk, and around us, people were still going about their business, without a care in the world.

I looked down the street and could see our building in the distance. If we could get there, we could grab some equipment and investigate the anomaly.

We didn't even have a chance to get back on the bikes.

Suddenly, we felt another surge of energy. This one was a little bit bigger than before, and I could get a general feel for where it was coming from. Right in the middle of street.

Fortunately, this wasn't much of a major street, so there were fewer cars that passed through, and at the moment, the street itself was empty.

Neither Ash nor myself could have predicted what came next. Seemingly out of nowhere, a part of the street exploded, throwing small pieces of debris and dust everywhere.

Ash groaned as our vision was obscured, thus preventing us from seeing what was going on, or trying to see what caused it.

I quickly tapped a button on the side of my helmet four times, signaling a call to Rowan, and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" Rowan said in a distracted voice. He was more than likely doing maintenance on his rifle.

"Where are you?" I asked urgently.

The tone of my voice seemed to catch his attention as he said in a much more attentive voice, "Ash's apartment, waiting for you guys. Why?"

"Just grab Bai, put your rifle back together, and get out to Ash's balcony. I'd be surprised if you didn't see why."

To his credit, he didn't bother asking how I knew his rifle was in pieces and hung up. It would have been a stupid question anyway.

I kept my helmet on to shield my eyes from the now settling dust and investigate the outline of a crater I could now see through the cloud.

As I drew one of my revolvers and started taking slow steps toward the crater, Bai called.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I'll be on a roof above the area in less than two minutes," he replied.

"Got it, keep a watch on anyone leaving the area," I said, and hung up, returning my attention to the crater, stopping as I heard something that made my blood run cold.

Voices.

Now I was much more alert. I silently drew my black katana and held it just behind the white revolver I had drawn. Listening carefully, I could just make out about four distinct voices.

Behind me, Ash flexed his arm, preparing his weapons, and on the roof across from us, I could make out the silhouette of Bai with his bow at the ready, and I assumed Rowan also had us covered.

Only once I was at the edge of the crater did I figure out the tone of the four voices. They were arguing with each other, bickering like a group that's known each other for a long time.

"What was that?" a voice asked in irritation.

"I have no idea. The stone worked correctly, but it was affected by some sort of outside force," another said.

"An outside force? I didn't think it was possible for that thing to be affected by things like that!" a third cried in outrage.

"It is a bit suspicious that something was able to affect the stone…" the final voice mused.

As they continued arguing, I was able to reach the edge of the crater and look over to see who was down there.

As I suspected, four figures were at the bottom of the crater. What I didn't expect was for all of them, save one, to be around the same age as my team and I.

The first figure was fairly tall, maybe an inch shorter than myself, with scarlet eyes, a tan complexion, and brown hair reaching down to his neck. He had a black shirt, the arms going down to his elbows, with a metal gauntlet covering the rest of his right arm, and a brown leather glove doing the same on his left arm. He had a pauldron on his left shoulder, and metal shin guards over his red combat pants. Tough straps held his brown boots together, a pistol was clipped to his belt, and what looked like an axe was strapped to his back.

I made a mental note to watch out for that axe and moved to the next person.

The next person was very easily shorter than me, with neatly parted, medium-length blond hair, a fair complexion, and ocean blue eyes. He had a blue and white, hooded coat, with what I thought might be brown, probably leather, armor underneath. The belt holding up his black pants held several containers of ammunition and what appeared to be explosives. His brown boots had simple straps on the sides. He wore fingerless gloves on his hands along with a unique-looking watch on his right arm.

"_Maybe he was the one who caused the explosion…"_ I thought as I eyed the explosives on his belt.

The third person definitely had the most… unique, and familiar, appearance. He had a light tan complexion with brown eyes and spiky black hair. He appeared to be maybe a year younger than those of us on SABR, and was definitely shorter than myself. His clothing was the unique part of him, if a bit strange. He had a black jacket with a peculiar yellow trim on it, and a black shirt with blue and white lightning designs. His black pants had a fiery pattern twirling up the legs from the bottom, and he wore black and green shoes with yet another peculiar pattern. The things that set me on highest alert were the sword strapped to his back, the small blade attached to the back of his belt, and the blue fingerless gloves he wore, a blue gem surrounded by yellow trim in the center of each.

As I observed his interaction with the others, I realized that he may very well be the leader, but it was hard to tell with so little information.

The final person gave off a strange vibe to me, but I disregarded it and continued sizing him up. He had a rather pale complexion, green eyes, and black hair that was spiked in the back. He had a button-up black coat with green-trimmed tailcoats which had several hooks attached to the bottom, holding some strange-looking metal containers. He had dark grey pants tucked into his shin high black boots. He had black gauntlets with white decoration, and a slightly torn green scarf around his neck.

He was still giving me a strange vibe. He didn't necessarily feel like he was a bad person, it was just an aura of mystery that surrounded him.

Deciding to cut their argument off and get some useful information before the police showed up, I raised my voice so that they could hear me over their bickering and said, "Could you please be quiet? You're giving me a headache. Also, if you could not move, that would be great."

I wasn't lying about the headache either. My heightened senses were not taking their arguing very well. It was as if they were yelling directly into my ear.

They complied with the first part out of shock, but the second part was hardly followed as they had weapons drawn almost faster than I could blink, all four of them staring intently at me.

"Who are you?" the youngest asked, adding to my suspicion that he was the leader, "And where are we?"

I let my sword rest against my left shoulder and lowered my revolver slightly as I debated my answer. This was also a test of their character, as I appeared to have my guard lowered, when, in reality, I could use both weapons in under a second if needed.

"You are in the city, or kingdom, whichever you prefer, of Vale," I decided to answer simply, ignoring the question regarding my identity. Something was starting to feel awfully familiar about these four.

At my answer, the four seemed shocked.

The one in blue and white spoke first. "You mean we didn't even make it more than a couple miles? We couldn't even make it out of this universe?" He was glaring at the younger figure at this point, even if he was shorter than him.

The younger figure, however, ignored the glare and had a thoughtful, and curious, look. "No, I think we made it out of the universe we came from. Something about him seems… familiar."

"I think we should just knock out this guy, and find answers on our own. He doesn't look like much," the tallest said, a grin on his face.

My temper spiked a bit and I forced myself to remain calm. "First off, I can hear you. Second, you are severely underestimating me. And third, you say that as if I'm your only problem." I finished the last part as I holstered my revolver and twirled my finger seemingly randomly through the air.

It wasn't random. From behind me, Ash stepped up, his helmet still on, blades barely concealed. An arrow planted itself directly next to the boot of the one with the green scarf, while a sniper shot passed inches away from the face of the guy in the blue and white coat.

While the two who had received the warning shots looked in the directions that they had come from, the tallest one was staring directly at Ash. "That outfit… Ash, do you think?" The question seemed to be directed towards the younger figure, which still seemed to be observing me.

Switching his gaze to Ash, the younger figure smirked and replied, "Just our luck we would run into them again."

The taller guy groaned at the answer and suddenly I remembered what had happened at the tower towards the beginning of first semester.

"Of course it's them. That explains the power surge," I said with a sigh, "If you want some answers as to who we are, we'll explain on the way to our apartment building." I made a small slashing motion, signaling Bai and Rowan to stand down, but stay alert.

The younger guy along with the taller guy made to follow me with the guy in black just behind them. The guy in blue and white seemed to hesitate, however.

"Why should we follow you?" he asked incredulously.

"Does the team name, SABR, ring any bells to you?" Ash asked as he walked beside me, taking his helmet off.

That shut him up as he rushed to catch up.

* * *

On the way to the building, since we had to walk our motorcycles, we decided to do some introductions.

The tallest of the group introduced himself as George Armstrong.

"Neil or Lance?" Ash asked, a look of slight teasing on his face.

"Who?" George asked.

"Never mind…" Ash replied, rolling his eyes.

The one in blue and white introduced himself as Ryan Jenkins.

The guy with the black clothing and green scarf introduced himself as Yaron Schatten.

The name of the youngest one, who also happened to be the leader, caught our attention the most, however. His name was Ash Ketchum.

And by attention, I do of course mean that we were laughing so hard that we had to lean against the bikes to avoid falling to the ground. This behavior didn't seem to be appreciated by them, but we were too busy trying to catch our breath to care.

By the time we arrived at the designated meeting place, Ash's apartment, we had managed to clear up the issue and had introduced ourselves.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the idea of George's initial coming first, but Ketchum being the leader, but I dismissed it in favor of more important things.

As we walked through the door and into the living room, I saw Blake reading a book in one of the armchairs, while Rowan picked through the pieces of his disassembled rifle, cleaning and doing maintenance on them. Bai was standing in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall, watching as we came in. The sound of a door shutting brought all our attention to the entrance to the small hallway that went to the bedrooms.

A yawning Weiss came from the entrance, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes closed. She had apparently just gotten up from a nap. When she opened her eyes, she blinked in surprise at the number of people in the room. On my left, I noticed that Ryan had gone rigid for some reason.

Weiss, her eyes having found Ash, walked forward and stood on her toes to give him a quick kiss as she put her arms around his neck and asked in a deceptively cheerful voice, "Did I miss anything?"

I don't know how Ash does it. From my experience, Weiss only sounds like that when she's either planning something, or extremely irritated, with only a few exceptions. I probably would have been anticipating being frozen solid by this point, but he took it in stride.

"Nothing yet," he replied, "We just got back."

"And it looks like you brought some friends with you," she observed, her underlying tone becoming more apparent, her irritation rising.

"I promise I'll make it up to you," he whispered in her ear, "Anything you want."

"Anything?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Anything," Ash replied, seeming not to catch the meaning of the smile.

"Get a room you two," Blake said, not looking up from her book.

I switched my gaze back to Ryan as everyone except Ash, Weiss, and Ryan laughed.

"Someone doesn't look happy," I said to him quietly.

He jumped as he realized he had been staring and had a small scowl on his face.

"Huh? What? No, it's not what you-" he started to say before I cut him off.

"I get the feeling you like her, but not HER."

Ryan swallowed and nodded.

"You and Ash can talk later," I said before turning to Ash. "Can I use your room for a little bit? I'd like to talk to Ketchum for a bit. We have some things to discuss."

Ash nodded as he and Weiss moved toward the sofa.

"Would you come with me for a minute?" I asked, looking at Ketchum.

His teammates seemed to tense a little bit before he nodded and followed me into the hall, and they all relaxed and found seats.

I opened the door for Ketchum, allowing him in, before following and closing the door quietly as I walked in.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ketchum asked.

I sighed. "I need to fill you in on a couple things, and I need you to tell your team the important parts of this, because my team and I would rather our cover not be blown."

"Cover?" he asked.

"We, just like you, aren't from around here. We're from a place that is both much better, and much worse than this world."

"What kind of cover are we talking about though?"

"In our world, this one is fantasy. It's a T.V. show. An Internet series to be more precise, but that part isn't important. The point is we can't have you guys talking about other universes while you're here. We're a bit taxed trying to hide it as it is."

He thought about it for a bit before replying, "I think I understand."

"On to my second reason for talking to you in private. I want some kind of assurance that I can trust you guys. I don't need a life story, and I have a feeling I don't want to hear it, but don't expect me to fully trust you."

Instead of blowing me away with some noteworthy speech, he simply replied, "We have those we care about as well, and some of them are in this world as well. Versions of them at least."

I sighed. "I can live with that, I suppose," I said, holding my hand out, "Glad we could come to an understanding."

"So am I. Shall we go out and talk to the others about what to do next?" he replied.

As I was about to answer, my Scroll's ringtone went off, alerting me to an incoming call. I took it out of my pocket and picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Silver, this is Gwyn. Davin and I have a problem."

I was surprised at this. They seemed fairly capable. If they had a problem…

"What is it?" I asked.

"Indigo's cover has been blown."

To say I was shell-shocked would be an understatement. "What do you mean his cover's been blown?" I asked in outrage, getting a look from Ketchum.

"I mean he's been working with us. You didn't honestly expect him to side with them and not give them knowledge of the future, did you?"

She brought up a good point. Nothing about White Fang movements had really changed, despite Indigo's basic knowledge of the future.

"Okay, I'll buy it. What happened?" I asked.

"One of Cinder's lieutenants caught him transferring data over to us and took him down before he could get out of the compound."

"Great. So, what are they going to do to him?" I asked.

"Best guess? They might call Adam in to kill him, since he's human. Or maybe they'll have Mercury or Emerald do it, just to get it done quickly."

"How long do you think we have?" I asked.

"Maybe six hours at best."

"Do we have a last known location? If it's anywhere in Vale, we can be ready and there in an hour."

"They just transported him to another safe house in the Agricultural District. Davin was able to hack their radio frequencies."

"Send me the coordinates. You two hang back while we get him. It would be better if they didn't see their other two watchmen."

"Got it. Good luck."

"Thanks. We'll need it," I said and hung up.

Ketchum gave me a curious look. "What was that?"

"A change in the situation. Come on, I'll explain on the way, we just need to get the others," I replied before quickly walking out.

* * *

**And that's part one! Now, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering if this chapter would count as a crossover, due to a certain OC added into the mix. My answer is, no. Well, kind of. After part two, all stories like this will be put up as one-shots on the Extras series.**

**Next, for all you guests out there, no, I am no longer accepting OC's. I have all I really need for the moment. Also, please keep in mind that when you leave a review as a guest, I CANNOT reply to you like I can to those with normal accounts, so please stop asking about OC submissions.**

**Once again, all you RvB fans out there, please don't leave a review of 'Bow Chicka Bow Wow'. I'm inevitably going to have them anyway, but I don't really want to see them more than I need to. There will be plenty more opportunities, just don't do it for this chapter.**

**Thank you for reading, I'll see you guys… Next Time!**


	31. Four Shades of GRAY Part Two

**All right, here we go. I'm going to try to finish this up all in one chapter, so there's going to be a lot going on. Without further ado, here's the chapter. Enjoy!**

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." –Martin Luther King Jr.

* * *

**Chapter 28: Four Shades of GRAY Part Two**

**Ash's POV**

While Silver and Ketchum (I refused to use my own name when referring to him) went into the other room to discuss whatever it was Silver wanted to talk about, the rest of us tried to keep ourselves busy, or simply sat patiently.

Bai had gone over to the desk in the other room, just visible from where I was sitting, probably going through our data feed in the few bugs I've been able to get into White Fang equipment. Rowan had gone back to fieldstripping his rifle in the corner of the room while Ryan watched from his spot leaning against the wall. Blake was curled up in an armchair, reading a book, though she seemed distracted, while Yaron sat in a seat next to her. As for myself, I was sitting with Weiss on the couch, making some small talk about our plans for the rest of the week-

I sighed inwardly. How many times was Ryan going to look at Weiss and I? It was starting to get a bit weird, so I slowly got up to go over to him.

"I'll be right back," I whispered to Weiss when she gave me a questioning look.

Thankfully, she didn't push too much; today was probably my lucky day.

I leaned against the wall next to Ryan. "Alright… What's the problem?"

I had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"It's nothing," he responded.

I looked back over at Weiss, who was now talking with Blake and Yaron. "She's not watching," I said, "so tell me what's up."

He looked away for a second. "I kind of have feelings for Weiss, so seeing her with you…"

I sighed. Instinct was telling me to just stop talking to him altogether, but I didn't really want to be a complete jerk about it, so I stayed silent, trying to find something to say to that.

He spoke again after a while, saying, "I know it's a different Weiss, but it still stings to see her with you after my efforts to stand between Jaune and Neptune, and her."

"Yeah, well, I helped her out a bit at the beginning of the semester, so I started with good rep with her, and it progressed into a relationship after a little while, especially after I showed her my cooking."

Ryan looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "You can cook?"

"Yeah, I can. She really likes it too."

His headed hit the wall lightly. "Great. Just great."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out when it comes to it," I said, "But you should remember something as you try to win her heart."

"Yeah? What's that?" he asked.

"You shouldn't do it for yourself, simply to win her heart. You should do what you do to make her happy. It's been hard for her as the SDC heiress. If she were to choose Neptune over me, when he finally arrives, I'd be okay with that as long as she was happy."

He looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Right."

We stood there in silence for a few moments before Bai came out of the room he was in, almost yelling, "Ash! We have a situation!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Data feeds are showing lots of activity all over Vale," he said, walking back to the computer as I followed, drawing confused looks from everyone in the room.

"What kind of activity? Why?" I asked, my sense of worry rising.

"Reports of a traitor are spreading like wildfire throughout the White Fang network. It's getting chaotic as they attempt to find the guy-" He stopped talking abruptly, watching the screen carefully.

"They found him," he said, "It took twenty members to take him down, but they got him before he could get away. It's weird, though. There's no mention of a name, just a bunch of references to a 'traitorous human', and stuff about 'shadows' and 'darkness'. It's like he wasn't necessarily a member, but more of an associate…" He began typing, trying to get more details.

At that moment, I heard a door slam on the other side of the apartment, and Silver's voice in the living room.

"Alright, we've got a problem, guys, and girls," he said, getting looks of approval from the members of RWBY.

I walked back into the room to see Silver standing at the entrance to the hallway, Ketchum slightly behind him. I wondered if this had anything to do with the White Fang's latest problem.

* * *

**Silver's POV**

"I just got a call from Gwyn just now," I continued as Ash entered the room, "She says Indigo's cover's been blown."

Rowan looked up, shocked. I wasn't surprised since he had given him quite the beating when he first appeared. Ash looked like he had had a realization and went back into the room he had come from, probably to tell Bai the news.

Blake and Weiss had looks of disbelief mixed with some thoughtfulness. Understandable since he had saved Ruby back during the Drakon fight, but was still under the employ of the White Fang, so he wasn't exactly a good person to them.

Meanwhile, Team GRAY just had looks of confusion on their faces, looking at each other at everyone else's reactions.

"Would someone mind explaining to us exactly what's going on?" Ryan asked.

I looked at Rowan, "You want to explain? I need to check on what Ash and Bai are up to."

"I got it," he replied, and he began to tell them about Indigo's first appearance, Weiss and Blake listening in for the details they hadn't heard directly after it happened.

I walked into the room Ash had disappeared into to find him and Bai watching a computer screen.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked curiously.

"We now know who the 'traitor' is within the White Fang, but we don't know much else. Did Gwyn include anymore details?" Bai asked, looking up from the computer.

"Warehouse down in the Agricultural District. We have a bit less than six hours to get in and out of there before Indigo dies," I replied.

He went back to going through his data feed, typing in commands and scrolling through different reports before stopping cold.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked, noticing the sudden lack of motion.

"We have less than three hours to get to him, and the 'executioner' is on his way RIGHT NOW," Bai answered, an unnaturally nervous expression on his face.

"Who's the 'executioner'?" I asked.

He looked me in the eye as he gave the answer. "Adam Taurus."

I looked at him blankly for a second before muttering, "Shit."

"Yeah, this is going to be a problem," Ash said.

"How long to get to the Agricultural District?" I asked.

"With the bikes? Maybe half an hour, tops." Bai replied.

I nodded. "Good. Start getting your gear together, we leave in an hour."

As I began to walk out, a loud beeping started coming from the computer, causing Bai to pull the plug and cut it in half with one end of his bow. "We've been found out. I don't think they had enough time to fully trace us, but we should get moving since they'll probably be increasing security around the Agricultural District, just in case."

"As if it weren't bad enough that we were helping Indigo," Ash muttered, walking out towards his bedroom to get geared up.

I followed him out and went over to where Blake and Weiss were sitting, Rowan having finished his explanation of Indigo to GRAY.

"You two need to grab a spare set of clothes and head over to Ruby and Yang's place over on Patch," I said, "The White Fang might have traced one of our bugs, and we need to make sure you're safe while we execute a rescue mission."

"First off, you're actually going to help that ne'er-do-well? Second, we can fight, you know. We can help, even if you're helping a criminal." Weiss said, irritated.

"Weiss is right, Silver, we are capable of fighting. We can help," Blake agreed, backing up her teammate.

I sighed. "In all honesty, I'd rather take you two with us."

"Then why don't you?" Weiss asked, her irritation growing.

"Because we already have too many people going!" I said loudly, "We can't just let GRAY off on their own, but we can't take ten people on this kind of mission either, so you two need to head over to Patch and get to Ruby and Yang's place. We'll call you if we need backup or if it's safe to return to the apartments."

Neither of them looked at all happy with me at the moment, no doubt I was going to be facing retribution for it later.

"Fine," Weiss said and walked off to where I assumed her room was.

Blake and I looked each other in the eye for a few moments before she finally sighed. "You're sure?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's get back to our place, I need to pack, and you need to prepare for a mission."

She turned to leave, but I stopped her, making her turn back towards me with a questioning look.

I held up my keys to my motorcycle for her to see and put them into her hand. "I'm sure you can handle siting on the sidelines just this once. This has nothing to do with Torchwick anyways."

She looked at me in slight shock.

I chuckled. "You didn't think I'd miss that notebook you kept writing in and studying, did you? I get it; you want to make sense of what the White Fang's up to with him. It's up to you who you tell, because I'm not. Now, let's go."

Blake and I turned to leave the room, leaving the others and GRAY to their preparations.

* * *

**One Hour Later…**

After making sure Blake and Weiss were on their way with my bike, and changing into Summer's cloak and changing my swords out for hers and grabbing my custom white and red handgun, I headed back to Ash's apartment to make sure everyone else was ready to go.

I walked in to Ash's apartment to find my teammates in their infiltration outfits, unconventional they might be, huddled around the dining room table with Team GRAY, going over a map.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked as I closed the door behind me.

They all looked up, and before anyone could say anything, Ketchum had looked in his bag, and faster than I could blink, slammed me against a wall, his sword at my throat.

"Where did you get that cloak?" he growled.

Suddenly, weapons were being drawn all over the room. Rowan had his rifle pointed at Ketchum's back, George had his mortar-axe pointed at Rowan, Bai had his bow aimed at George's head, Yaron had his daggers drawn near Bai's back, Ash had his gauntlets pointed at Yaron and George, and Ryan had his pistols out and aimed at Rowan and Bai.

I drew my handgun and put the tip into Ketchum's stomach. "What's it to you?"

The tension in the room was steadily rising. The real question on my mind was who was going to strike first.

"I have one, so why do you?" he asked.

My heart stopped cold. He had a cloak like mine? "What do you mean by, 'I have one'?"

Keeping me pinned against the wall, he reached into his bag and lifted out a white cloak with a red inner lining.

I had to fight to keep my anger and confusion down. "I think I should be the one to ask you. You're not a child of Summer Rose, so why do you have it?"

"I'm keeping it safe for Ruby while I search for Summer. She's the only child of Summer Rose," he said.

I smirked. "Oh, really? I think you're making assumptions about this universe. And as a wise man once told me, 'don't assume, or you'll make an ass out of both you and me'."

Ketchum growled again, pressing his sword a bit closer into my throat. "What are you talking about?"

I looked him straight in the eye. "I'm a son of Summer Rose."

He didn't release his hold on me. "You're lying."

"Am I?" I asked, "Let me tell you the story behind me and my team, will you, but first, let's have everyone put their weapons down and try not to kill anyone, okay?"

After a few moments, Ketchum released me and sheathed his sword, causing the others to put away their weapons, although my team seemed to keep their weapons out a bit longer than GRAY.

"Talk," Ash half ordered.

I sighed. "First off, none of us from SABR are originally from Remnant. We're from another world."

"That's where it doesn't add up," Ketchum said, hand going back to his sword, "How would you be a son of Summer Rose if you're from another world?"

"They're full-blooded other world people, where as I'm half-Remnant," I said calmly.

Ketchum's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"During a high-risk mission, my mom had just finished taking out a horde of Grimm, when an unnatural storm came out of nowhere. A flash of red lightning later, she found herself waking up in our world, and since time runs differently there, I ended up being older than Ruby by two years."

"How did you end up back here?" he asked.

"Same deal. Red lightning out of nowhere when we met up during a vacation from school. Whatever deity that's out there probably had some plan that I can't begin to understand."

He was silent as he judged my story and tried to decide if I was lying. Eventually, he said, "Have you told Ruby or Yang yet?"

I shook my head. "No. If I could, I would, but that would mess things up way too bad."

"'Mess things up'?" he asked, "Now what are you talking about?"

"We're making sure nothing crucial changes while we're here. There are certain things that need to happen for Team RWBY to grow and succeed, and while we'll have our time with them, they come first, if their continuation as a team is at stake, well, we'll find a way."

"What. Are. You. Talking about?" Ketchum all but yelled.

"I mean my team and I shouldn't exist in this world. There should never have been a Team SABR at Beacon Academy. The way this world was meant to be, it was only supposed to be RWBY and JNPR as the best first-year teams. In our world, Remnant isn't real, Ketchum. It's just an Internet series created by one of the best people to have ever lived. We've gotten over that view. Now that we're here, we'll make sure nothing happens to stop RWBY from becoming legends, even if we fade into the background. Now, back up, calm down, and either help us, or get out of our way. We have a rescue mission to run."

Without another word, I strode forward, around Ketchum, and to the table to look over the layout of the warehouse.

"How very noble of you," I heard him mutter, probably not entirely satisfied, but enough to keep him at bay.

I sighed. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

**30 Minutes Later…**

We were down the street from the designated warehouse. Bai, Team GRAY, and I were waiting for Ash and Rowan to get done with their recon work.

"How're their comms looking, Bai?" I asked.

"There hasn't been an alert over any of the White Fang's most used frequencies."

"Any word on Taurus's location?"

"None. For all we know, he could already be here."

I cringed at that. If Adam were already here, then this would become infinitely harder.

After a few more minutes, Ash and Rowan reappeared next to us with the findings from their recon.

"There's at least a hundred WF members in there, with about ten of them on Indigo's cell," Ash said.

"The rest are either in defensive positions around the building, or managing the supply of Dust inside," Rowan added.

"Any sighting of Adam Taurus?" I asked.

They shook their heads.

"Nothing, but that doesn't mean he's not there, or just hasn't arrived yet," Rowan said.

"Alright," I started, "Here's what we're going to do. Rowan, you're going to set up shop around here and give covering fire on the front entrance. Ash, you along with Bai, Ryan, and George, are going to go around to the backside of the warehouse and distract them."

George raised his hand. "When you say 'distract', what do you mean?"

I smiled. "Have fun," I replied, "Break some shit."

Turning back to the rest of the group, I continued, "Ketchum, Yaron, you're with me. We're going through the front door, so be ready to take down any enemies in your way."

The two indicated people nodded.

"Everyone clear on their roles?" I asked, getting affirmative responses, I continued, "Good, let's go."

Rowan climbed a nearby ladder to high rooftop to get into position while the back-entrance team snuck around through a side street while Ash, Yaron, and I quickly and quietly made our way up the street toward the front entrance, waiting for the back entrance team to start shaking things up.

After five minutes of waiting, a gigantic fire ball erupted from behind the warehouse, prompting just over half the guards at the front entrance to run to the back to see what was going on at the back.

Once the guards had left, we came out of our cover. I drew one of a _Rose's Thorns_ and twirled it around as I brought out my handgun and switched off the safety.

Ketchum drew his sword, and I could swear it started to glow.

Yaron drew his daggers, their curved blades an ebony black.

The remaining guards opened fire on us after we had covered about half the distance between our hiding spot and the entrance. I deflected shots with my sword to the best of my ability while the others did their best to either dodge the bullets.

When we reached the entrance, the guards began to pull out swords, which I parried and then either shot them in non-vital areas or disarmed them and knocked them out.

Ketchum would often just punch them into a wall as if it were nothing, leading me to believe that there's more to him than meets the eye.

Yaron was moving fluidly with his daggers in a reverse grip, parrying strikes and incapacitating enemies left and right.

We continued to fight our way through the warehouse, working our way towards where Indigo was being held.

When we reached the general area he was being held, we found twenty guards, just as Ash and Rowan had said. I charged my hand with lightning and sent a fist made of lightning down the hallway, electrocuting them and knocking them out.

When we reached the cell, I blew off the hinges and Ketchum yanked it out of its frame, causing Indigo to jump in surprise where he was sitting on the floor.

"Took you long enough," he said as he approached a nearby locker and started grabbing his weapons and equipment.

"You know how it is," I replied, "Traffic in Vale is horrible."

Ketchum and Yaron watched the exchange with confused looks on their faces.

"Weren't you guys enemies a little while ago?" Ketchum asked.

I shrugged. "This is just how we relieve stress. I'll be grilling him later, but for now we need to get out of here and find a place for him to lay low."

"There's not much chance of me finding a safe area to lay low," Indigo cut in, "The White Fang have contacts everywhere. I witnessed that first hand while I was still a trusted associate. Unless I'm in the middle of an incredibly dense Grimm Zone, there's nowhere in this world that I can hide."

I thought about his words for a moment before smiling as I glanced at Ash and Yaron. "What an interesting choice of words…"

Ketchum raised an eyebrow at the look I was giving him. "What?"

"Do you think I could ask a favor?" I asked him.

"What do you need?"

"Could you take him with you? Back to your world?" I asked.

Ketchum looked at me for a few moments before finally sighing. "Yeah, sure, we can do that, so long as he doesn't do anything bad."

"I won't, don't worry about me, mate. Besides, this is quite literally my only chance to find a safe place to lay low for a while. I'm not going to mess this up."

"I'd hope not," Yaron commented.

"Come on, we're wasting time," I said, starting to move down the hallway, "We need to get out of here before-"

I was cut off as I noticed a figure at the other end of the hallway.

"You have got to be kidding me…" I muttered.

At the end of the hall stood Adam Taurus, the black and red swordsman of the White Fang.

Adam smirked. "What do we have here, a bunch of filthy humans helping the traitor to escape? That cannot be allowed."

He held onto the 'sheathe' of his sword while I started going toward my swords, staring each other down, both our faces hidden, his by a mask, mine by my cloak.

"You guys get out of here," I whispered, not daring to take my eyes off of Adam.

"Why? We can help you!" Ash whispered back.

"Yeah? Who's going to help Indigo? He's not fully recovered from when he got taken down earlier, I can see it. You two need to get him out of the building, so go."

There was silence from behind me until I finally heard three sets of footsteps retreat down the other end of the hallway.

Adam growled as they escaped. "Get out of my way, and I shall make your death quick."

I brought my swords into a defensive stance. "Do you think you can kill a Dragon, Adam?"

If he was surprised I knew his name, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply pulled the trigger on his rifle-sheathe, launching his sword towards me. Before it could hit me, I used my lightning to teleport just behind him and deliver a kick to his back.

He was sent into a roll down the hallway, where he retrieved his sword.

Adam smirked. "You're going to be fun to kill."

I smirked right back. "I'd like to think so, but that's only if you can land a hit, Adam."

He ran forward and used his sheathe to boost the draw speed of his sword, quickly slashing at me repeatedly as I moved to block each strike.

One strike seemed harder than the others, and he held his sword against my crossed blades, trying to push me off balance to score a hit or two on me. What he didn't know was that I had more power than he could imagine.

My eyes began to glow an electric blue, something he seemed to notice as he jumped back a few feet as I prepared an attack.

"So, Adam, have you ever heard of a Dragon Slayer before?" I asked.

He remained silent in anticipation for what I was about to do.

"No? Well, fighting one was one of the biggest mistakes you ever made."

I lunged forward, sheathing my swords and punching him with a lightning enhanced fist in one smooth motion. I was about to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head when he blocked it with his sword and it absorbed the lightning around my foot.

Adam slashed at me with his now energized sword, sending me flying from the energy-enhanced slash.

I got up, discreetly checking my Aura level on my Scroll and seeing it halfway down. Adam and I once again stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move as we were both breathing it a bit harder than when we started.

Adam was the first to move, he took one step, and then he was suddenly almost within striking distance. I quickly drew one of my swords and blocked his strike, but didn't expect the uppercut to the stomach that came with it, knocking the air out of me. I retaliated by letting a surge of lightning from my mouth into his face from point blank range. He flew back down the hallway before getting back to his feet, his hand on his severely damaged mask.

He glared at me from under the damaged mask. "This isn't over. I'll take care of you another time."

He then ran down the hallway in retreat.

I sighed in exhaustion before making my way back down the hall and out of the warehouse.

* * *

**5 Minutes Later…**

Teleporting a couple blocks from the warehouse, I found the rest of the group on a rooftop.

"Hey guys, I'm back," I said as I reappeared next to them.

"You okay?" Ash asked, taking in my appearance.

"Just a bit tired. Adam put up a pretty good fight, and we didn't even have an actual winner."

"That sucks," Rowan commented.

I shrugged before turning to the members of GRAY, and Indigo.

"You guys good to go?" I asked.

"No," Ketchum said, "My world-hopping stone is broken at the moment, so we're stuck."

"Well, let's hope it's fixed in the next twenty-four hours," Indigo said, waving his hand, "Or I'm going to be on the run from a terrorist group. Ironic isn't it? Usually they're on the run."

The members of GRAY weren't really paying attention to his words, however. It looked like they were looking at something on the inside of his right arm.

"Hey, Indigo, where'd you get that thing on the inside of your right arm from?" George asked.

Indigo looked at him with a confused look. "You mean my wrist-mounted crossbow? I made it myself. Why?"

Team GRAY looked at each other.

"We have a friend who has one that looks exactly like it," Ryan said.

Indigo's face seemed to drain of color for a couple seconds. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked.

"I actually made two of these things," Indigo said, indicating the crossbow, "I gave my other one to some female fox Faunus after a spur-of-the-moment fight she and I got into. After I beat her, I gave her the crossbow and after a few words, she vanished. She said something about other worlds and all that too."

Team GRAY once again looked at each other.

"Did you get a name from her at any point?" Yaron asked.

"Yeah, it was Aria Foxy," Indigo said.

Team GRAY all sighed in what sounded like realization.

"Now it all makes sense!" George declared.

"She's been training so hard for weeks with that crossbow around to remind herself to get better," Yaron said.

"When did she even have an opportunity to come here?" Ketchum wondered aloud.

"No wonder she's been working so hard…" Ryan said.

Indigo's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on a second. You guys know her?"

"Yeah, she's an unofficial member of our team," Ketchum said.

"Great, now I'm going to need to watch out for her when I get to your world," Indigo said.

"Oh, you'll be fine!" George reassured him.

"Speaking of which," Ketchum said, "the stone's fixed. Get close, so that the stone will take you with me."

Team GRAY and Indigo got closer together as the stone activated.

"See you guys later, and be sure to tell Gwyn and Davin what happened to me!" Indigo said.

"Good luck with that thing we talked about, Ryan," Ash said.

Ryan turned a slight red color and nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing you guys again," Ketchum said.

"We do need to get Indigo back from you," Bai said.

"Try to come back after a few weeks, would you, Indigo?" Rowan asked.

"Yeah, right," Indigo responded.

I gave them all a small salute and said, "We'll be waiting for you guys."

In a flash of light, they were gone.

"Well, that's that," Rowan said.

"Yep, talk about a long day, am I right?" Ash asked.

"Definitely been a long day," Bai replied.

"Let's go get some sleep, oh, and someone needs to call Weiss and Blake to tell them they can come back," I said.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Damn it…" Ash said.

* * *

**That's the end of this chapter. That was quite piece of work. By the time I'm finishing this, it's about two in the morning, so if there's anything weird about the '5 Minutes Later' part, that's probably why.**

**I'll make announcements at a later time.**

**I'll See You Guys… Next Time!**


	32. Journal Entries

**I'm back with another chapter! Not much to say other than I just released another story. Check it out on my profile if you haven't already! Enjoy the chapter!**

"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire." –Ferdinand Foch

* * *

**Chapter 29: Journal Entries**

**Normal POV**

**Vale**

Sitting in the living room of Silver's apartment, Blake Belladonna, Huntress in training and Silver's roommate and girlfriend, though they claimed they were simply close friends, was going through her journal on what she knew about the White Fang and their previous activities.

At the moment she had stopped on the page with her information regarding her former partner, Adam Taurus. She just couldn't stop thinking about the sudden change in the White Fang's operations. They'd never needed that much Dust before, and they had certainly never even considered working with a Human like Torchwick.

She sighed. She wasn't going to get any answers for now, and she wasn't going to investigate when Silver had given her a place to stay over break, since she didn't want the White Fang to come in and raid the place.

Done looking through her notes for the day, she walked into the hall towards Silver's room to try to find a book she might like, as Silver seemed to have everything on his two shelves, except a certain favorite genre of hers, but she could hardly complain.

Blake approached the bookshelves and knelt in front of them, looking for a title that might catch her eye. Silver seemed to really like Sci-Fi books along with Mysteries, but he also seemed to have an interest in Historical Fiction as well, with some Suspense novels added in for good measure.

Picking out a small red and white book that had caught her eye, she read the title to be "Runner". She had never heard of the author, but she decided to give it a try anyways.

She was halfway to the door when another book, bound in black leather, sitting on Silver's desk, caught her eye. Tilting her head slightly in curiosity, having never seen this particular book before, as she had already been through his bookshelves a few times over the past couple weeks, she walked over to the desk and picked it up.

Upon closer examination, she decided that while the book wasn't too old, it was definitely well worn and used. It didn't have any title that she could see, but it seemed to have some sort of significance to Silver.

She cautiously opened the book and found something written on the first page.

* * *

_The Notes and Journal on Dragon Slaying of Silver Aurelius_

* * *

Blake's eyes widened. She hadn't meant to look at something so personal, but at the same time, she was curious as to how he developed his so-called Dragon Slaying.

She turned the page to find a small list.

* * *

_Requirements for becoming a Dragon Slayer_

_1\. The person must have complete control over an "element". (For example: Fire, Metal, Wind, Lightning, Light, Shadow, etc.)_

_2\. The person must have a high mental concentration, as unlocking the technique takes focus._

_3\. The person must have an at least above average physical ability, the higher the better._

_4\. The person must have the drive and the will to push themselves to their limits. The process of becoming a Dragon Slayer is on even more difficult than training to become a Hunter/Huntress._

* * *

Blake read the words in shock. These were the requirements? Not just anyone could become a Dragon Slayer apparently. She turned the page to find another piece of notes.

* * *

_Dragon Force_

_Dragon Force is the epitome of Dragon Slaying, giving the user the power of a Dragon (a power potential to level a city). Common signs of a Dragon Slayer entering Dragon Force is a scaly complexion around their bodies, typically their arms and eyes, and possibly more. A large amount of energy is required to enter this state, but it is typically the trump card of any Dragon Slayer._

Thinking back, Blake did recall that Silver had displayed those traits when they had fought the Drakon together, except possibly the part where he could level a city, but that was a few months ago. She once again turned the page.

_Dragon Slayer Generations_

_First Generation: This generation is the oldest generation, and the most powerful in terms of experience and quality of their Dragon Force. Their Dragon Force takes more activation energy than other generation's to activate, but it's much more powerful. They are set apart by the fact that they learned Dragon Slaying from sentient Dragons._

_Second Generation: While initially more powerful than their First Gen. counterparts, as they can access more power, they are considered to be "fake" Dragon Slayers by some because they have an implant that allows them to use the technique._

_Third Generation: This generation is a mix of the previous two. They were taught by Dragons, and have the implant so as to boost their power, which also allows them to access Dragon Force at will, however it is much weaker than the First Gen. Dragon Force._

_Fourth Generation: This is a theoretical generation. There aren't any recorded Dragon Slayers from a Fourth Gen., but the general guess is that they are taught by other Dragon Slayers._

_Fifth Generation: This Generation is even more theoretical than the last. My theory is that these Dragon Slayers are self-taught, meaning they don't have an implant, and a Dragon or another Dragon Slayer didn't teach them. Full capabilities are unknown._

* * *

Now absolutely fascinated by the notes, and the fact that Dragon Slayers seemed to be so diverse, Blake turned the page to find the beginning of a series of journal entries.

* * *

_Journal Entry # 1_

_It's been two weeks since I started working on this technique, and I'm starting to feel a change in the quality of my lightning. It still has its blue color, but it has become a bit more… volatile. It has become much more damaging, and has an effect of paralysis if hit too many times. I'm getting closer._

* * *

This was his documentation on his time trying to unlock his Dragon Slaying! Blake couldn't believe what she was reading. She flipped a few more pages, taking in the details that Silver left, stopping on a particularly interesting page every so often.

* * *

_Journal Entry # 11_

_I was finally able to execute the Heavenward Halberd. After several hours of concentration, trying to get my lightning to form into the halberd-shaped attack, I was able to form it in my hand and throw it at the practice dummy, disintegrating its upper half. The attack still needs work. I won't have that kind of time to charge up an attack in the middle of a fight._

* * *

The fact that he took so much time and effort to perfect every attack was amazing. Blake couldn't help but appreciate that kind of training and hard work. She turned a few more pages before finding a page that really caught her attention.

* * *

_Journal Entry # 17_

_I've made much more progress in developing this technique than I ever thought I would. I didn't know if it would be entirely possible, developing it with no teacher or implant, but it's actually happening! My senses have increased exponentially, and while I don't have the eyesight, such as night vision, that most Faunus have, I have a sense of hearing and smell almost equal of that to a Dragon! However, my confusion at no sign of any debilitating motion sickness on moving vehicles, fairly standard for Dragon Slayers, is continuing to grow. Perhaps my method of learning this technique has allowed for me to avoid this weakness._

* * *

Blake was in a slight state of shock. Silver had senses that could rival her own? That could help explain his senses in battle, along with his stance against Faunus discrimination, but that could come from his character as well.

Blake read through a few more pages detailing his continued practice with his skills, and how he came to master them over time. After a while, she found one, short and simple, entry that piqued her interest.

* * *

_Journal Entry # 42_

_I think I'm almost ready. I'll be making an attempt to access Dragon Force soon. Given its nature, I think it would be best to do it in the Emerald Forest, just in case._

* * *

Blake was split between being excited and worried at what the outcome of that was, considering what happened immediately after Silver defeated the Drakon. She turned the page.

To her immediate surprise, there were no long notes on how it happened; it was just a few sentences, and a data card.

* * *

_Journal Entry # 43_

_I have no words to describe this utter failure that was my first attempt at Dragon Force. No, it was worse than failure. A portion of the forest was destroyed, and Ash, Bai, and Rowan, along with Professors Goodwitch and Oobleck, received injuries of varying degrees, all because I couldn't control it, the thing that I've called my inner-Dragon. If whoever may be reading this truly wants details on what happened, the video file is on the data card._

* * *

Blake had shocked and saddened thoughts at these words. What was Silver talking about? What was this so-called "Inner-Dragon"? Why had he never mentioned any of this to her or her team before? They could have helped him.

With a look of apprehension, Blake picked up the card, and connected it to her Scroll. Navigating through, she found the video file and, with a second of hesitation, played it.

* * *

_A clearing in the Emerald Forest appeared, focused on Silver, who was standing in the center of it. Off to the sides of the clearing, Ash, Bai, Rowan, and the Professors stood ready in case a problem were to arise._

"_Are you ready, Mr. Aurelius?" Oobleck asked._

_Silver nodded._

_A few seconds later, each of the five people at the edges of the clearing threw a crystal of lightning Dust at Silver after they activated it. Upon contact with the ground around Silver, tendrils of blue lightning appeared, and with a calm, focused, breath in, he had absorbed the lightning into himself._

_Silver stood in his spot for a few seconds before opening his eyes as they began to glow a deep electric blue, a scaly complexion beginning to form in the designated areas._

_A look of strain passed over his face for almost a minute before he went back to normal. Or at least it appeared that he had gone back to normal, but the looks on the surrounding people's faces said that something was starting to go wrong._

_Silver blinked a few times before his eyes suddenly became a solid blue, no iris, just blue. Everyone in the clearing stiffened at this change before "Silver" let loose an inhuman roar, and several bolts of lightning went through the air, prompting the professors and students alike to dodge to the side, drawing their weapons._

"_Silver" looked back and forth between the people surrounding him. Suddenly, he sent a torrent of lightning from his mouth straight towards Goodwitch, who quickly dodged out of the way before waving her riding crop to fire several blasts of Dust at "Silver"._

_Meanwhile, Bai and Rowan shot ice Dust arrows and bullets in an effort to slow him down while Oobleck used his flamethrower-club combination to try to knock Silver out and Ash tried to take advantage of any opening "Silver" left open._

"_Silver", however, was having an easy time dealing with their attacks; forcing them to dodge and blasting them back while simultaneously avoiding their attacks. He used a combination of his base semblance and the attacks he had mastered only weeks before._

_After a while, the three students and two professors started to gain ground, Oobleck finally landing some solid hits while Bai and Rowan got some well placed shots in._

_Soon, Goodwitch recovered from a blast she had taken earlier and moved her riding crop in a complex pattern, lifting "Silver" into the air and forming several glyphs in the air around him all at once before they all fired at him, the others joining blasts in the hope of knocking Silver out and ending the fight._

_When the smoke cleared, Silver could be seen lying unconscious on the ground, a few stray arcs of lightning moving across his body. His clothes were tattered, his body severely bruised with a few cuts, and his Aura level at a dangerously low level._

_The other five didn't look all that great either, but the injuries were still minor._

_Goodwitch walked forward and levitated Silver into the air and began walking out of the clearing, the others following with sullen expressions. Then the file ended._

* * *

Blake hadn't realized it, but part way through the video; she had placed a hand over her mouth, and at some point a tear had dropped down her face.

Seeing her roommate and friend like that had done something to her. She didn't know what, but she knew that it was heart breaking to see the cool, but cheerful, Silver act like that.

She was so distracted by her thoughts, she didn't hear the door to the apartment open and close.

"Hey, Blake! I'm back!" Silver said loudly.

Getting no response, he went to her room first, and not finding her there, checked his room, only to discover her with a blank look, sitting at his desk, a black leather bound book in front of her with a data card connected to her Scroll.

"Oh, crap," he thought as he walked forward, Blake seeming to not register his presence.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face, startling her as she turned to look at him.

"So," he said as he sat on the bed next to the desk, a serious expression on his face, "You finally found my journal, huh?"

"You expected me to find it?" Blake asked.

"You're my roommate. I'd be surprised if you didn't," Silver replied.

Blake stayed silent, still a bit shocked from the video.

"You watched the video, right?"

She nodded. "What was that?"

"That, was the side-effect of my being a Dragon Slayer," he replied.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, confused.

"Well, with the amount of power Dragon Slayers have, there has to be some drawback to balance it out. So, most Dragon Slayers are particularly bad with vehicles, their motion sickness being even worse than Jaune's."

Blake raised an eyebrow at my attempt at humor.

Silver sighed. "I don't have that, but at this point, I almost wish I did, because it's better than my alternative."

"And that is?" she asked.

"You read the journal."

"… Something about an 'Inner-Dragon'?"

"Exactly. Think of it as a sort of… mental beast that I need to keep in check. I've gotten much better at it since that video was recorded, but sometimes Dragon Force will bring it to the very edge."

"Is there any way to get rid of it?" she asked.

"Outside of drugging myself regularly? No," he replied.

She was silent for a few moments before asking, "Why didn't you tell us? My team and I, we could have helped you."

"I didn't want you guys to worry. Besides, don't you have enough to worry about, with the White Fang and Torchwick and all that, without adding me to the list?" Silver asked.

Blake's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "You didn't honestly think I'd miss how you read that journal almost studiously, did you? You can ask me, or your team for that matter, if you ever want help. That's what they're there for."

"Right," she replied.

Silver smirked. "Come on, Blake, now that we both know what the other has been trying to hide, let's eat lunch together. I'll make you a sandwich."

Blake shot her signature smirk back as she retrieved the book she had originally been planning on reading from the desk. "Tuna please."

Both having slightly lighter chests, they left the room for the kitchen, a deeper trust forming between the two.

As they entered the kitchen, another question occurred to Blake.

"Hey, Silver, if you gain the attributes of a Dragon, including their senses, would that make you part Faunus?" she asked.

He considered this as he pulled things out to make a couple sandwiches.

"By normal definitions, not really, but you could argue it, I suppose," he answered.

And so their lunch went. Each one countering the other's point with another piece of evidence, having fun as they debated the topic.

* * *

**And that's the end of Chapter 29! I have to say, probably one of my better quality chapters, just in the idea of information with minimal action. But yeah, I'm super excited for Volume 3, and I'll be starting in on the Volume 2 stuff soon. I'll see you guys next time!**


	33. Sibling Arrivalries

**And here we are, Chapter 30. Sorry for the wait, but I've been focusing on school and a newer (slightly better written than my previous material) project. I saw the opening for Volume 3 and immediately felt inspired to continue. Enjoy.**

"_Women are meant to be loved, not understood." –Oscar Wilde_

* * *

**Chapter 30: Sibling Arrivalries**

**Normal POV**

Ash could not believe he was here, stuck at a café, drinking coffee, watching the entrance to Tukson's Book Trade, while the rest of his team was back at Beacon, having a great time, helping the girls from RWBY, particularly Weiss and Blake, carry stuff back into their dorm room.

He definitely didn't miss Weiss. No, Silver would never let him live it down if he missed his maybe-possibly girlfriend after only an hour of his shift. Ash could swear he did this on purpose.

To stave off the boredom, he tried thinking about things other than what he was currently doing, such as how Ruby had helped him craft a new sword to replace the laser sword (light-saber, as dubbed by Rowan) that he had been damaged on a Grimm raid for Ozpin the previous week. Nothing big, but enough for a Beowolf to slash the handle to pieces when it caught him off-guard, causing him to lose his grip on the sword before he could kill the beast, resulting in the destruction of the sword.

Admittedly, it was a bit flashy, so he asked Ruby if she could help him craft a newer, less flashy (but much cooler), sword. When he had given her the blueprints for what he had in mind, he thought he would go deaf from her squeal of excitement.

The resulting sword, from over three days of labor in the forge, was a piece of art to rival Myrtenaster in beauty (not that he or Ruby would ever say that to Weiss' face, they weren't stupid).

It was a double-edged long-sword, able to be wielded with either one or two hands. Going along its dark grey blade were wave-like designs that could be used to channel his semblance more effectively into the blade, allowing it to pass through a shield or armor to strike the wielder. It could then collapse into a rifle reminiscent of a musket, only without the slow rate of fire of one. It had taken him and Ruby a lot of experimenting with the weapon to make it operable without the bolt-action and work out the kinks in the installed silencer.

In the end, it had to be one of the coolest weapons either of them had ever laid eyes on. Because of this, he had dubbed the weapon _Venustus_, meaning charming or graceful in Latin, though he didn't tell Ruby the exact origin, or name, of the language.

He took another sip of his coffee as he watched another person walk into the bookstore. So far, nothing suspicious or dangerous, that so figured.

He returned to his thoughts, barely noticing that someone had slid into the seat across from him until they coughed to get his attention, nearly causing him to spit out the coffee he was drinking in surprise, instead opting to swallow hastily and collapse into a coughing fit.

He heard a faint chuckle from the mystery person as he tried to regain his composure. Looking up, he almost thought it was Weiss sitting across from him. Almost.

She had the same beautiful white hair as the resident Schnee heiress at Beacon did, but her hair was swept to her right side with the rest of it, save one small fringe going down the left side of her face, was put up into a bun. Her eyes looked the same on first glance, but he could tell they were more of stormy-grey, as opposed to Weiss' ice blue.

For another thing, she was definitely older than Weiss was, but carried that same regal, if not more refined, air around her that shouted nobility.

Adding to this effect was her white blouse and blue vest, along with her white coat, (though he didn't believe that was an entirely accurate description), a red jewel brooch at her neckline, with a long slit going down each arm, exposing her fair skin, black gloves covering her hands.

Her sharp features, schooled as they might be, betrayed a look of amusement as he recovered from his surprise.

"Well, this certainly wasn't what I was expecting from a member of the team that took down a Drakon," the 'mystery' (though Ash had an idea of who this was) woman said.

Ash couldn't help but smile a tiny bit as he put his hands behind his head, closer to wear his new rifle rested. This was not a woman he wanted to get on the bad side of. "It was a team effort. May I ask what the name and business of the beautiful woman in front of me is?"

Was he being a tad bit over the top? Probably. Was it necessary? Most likely. Was Weiss going to be in a bad mood if she ever heard about this? Yes.

His excessive use of manners did seem to amuse her, however, so he was safe for the moment.

"Can you not guess for yourself? I know my sister is in your year at Beacon," she replied.

"I prefer to allow the lady to introduce herself, rather than simply state who she is. It would be rather rude, wouldn't it?" Ash replied.

She smirked and held out her hand. "Winter Schnee, a pleasure."

I smiled back and took her hand, shaking. "Ash Winters, the pleasure is mine."

While his exterior was light-hearted and polite, he was a tad bit worried about the possibilities of Winter coming to him personally on the inside. He may or may not have also been worried about the cutlass hilt he had spotted at her side during their handshake.

"So," Winter started, "What would a moderately famous Hunter-in-training be doing around here without his teammates and friends?"

"I could say the same," Ash retorted. "Where's the SDC entourage that usually follows Schnee family relatives around?"

To Winter's credit, she didn't seem to take much offense to his remark. If anything, she became more amused.

"I don't need them, not when I'm carrying this," she said, gesturing to her weapon, "I'm in Vale on SDC business."

Ash repressed a frown. "Nothing too illegal or shady, I hope?" he asked casually, but a low edge to his voice.

Winter raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Interesting. The assessment in your file was correct. You _act_ very laid back and like you don't take anything seriously, but underneath that, you're very sharp. I admit you have piqued my interest, Mr. Winters."

"Oh, do I have my own file with the SDC?" he asked curiously. "And please, call me Ash. I get enough of that 'Mr. Winters' stuff from the professors."

"After the 'incident' in Visegrád, your entire team had files registered on the SDC private servers. Highly skilled warriors are hard to come by, and my family's company has their eye on you, particularly my father."

_So apparently she doesn't know about my connection to Weiss yet. Whoever was observing us must have missed it if she's not bringing it up._

Ash leaned back at that thought and asked, "Would that be in a good way, or a bad way?" He wasn't going to hold much back at this point, seeing as she probably had full psyche analyses on them through Beacon, not that Beacon probably provided them willingly, but still.

She smiled mysteriously. "I cannot speak for my father. I don't know myself. What I do know, is that there is _something_ interesting about your team, but to be perfectly candid with you, I'm not as interested in your _Dragon_, Silver Aurelius, or your sharpshooter, Rowan Chase, or your archer, Bai Ryder, as I am in you, Ash Winters. There is something about you, that I can't seem to put my finger on."

Ash's mouth went quite dry at those words, and he failed to swallow when his Scroll went off to signal an incoming call and he saw who was calling: Weiss. Oh, this is so awkward.

"Excuse me while I take this," he said as he answered the call, Winter giving him a nod to his request. "Hello?"

"Ash, where the Dust are you?" Weiss practically yelled at him through the Scroll. "All Silver would tell me is that you're in Downtown Vale."

Ash noticed that Winter was tapping away at her Scroll as she waited for his call to end, though a look of shock, and possibly anger, seemed to flash across her face when she stopped tapping, though he couldn't figure out why at the moment.

"I'm at a on Classic Street if you want to join me," he replied, hoping he could get rid of Winter before Weiss arrived.

"Really? I'll be right there, I'm only a street over."

Ash paled. This was not going to be good, but still, he kept his voice cheery as he replied, "Okay, see you in a few."

He ended the call and looked up to see a bit of anger in Winter's eyes, making him a bit nervous as to what he could have done.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She visibly tried to calm herself when he asked that question, replying through gritted teeth, "I'm fine. Would you like to order lunch? On me?"

Ash had to wonder what could have so drastically changed her attitude during his call, but he let it go, but instead nervously asked, "I hope you don't mind entertaining one more for that, or I can pay, it won't be too much trouble."

This seemed to make her more irritated at the mention of another person. Given, it was her sister, and they didn't seem to be on the best of terms at the moment, but she didn't know that. Did she?

"It's fine. I'd love to 'meet' any _friend_ of yours."

The way she said "friend" made Ash wonder if Winter already knew who was coming, but before he could continue that thought, Weiss' voice came from behind him.

"Ash! There you are! Honestly, why must you always disappear on me?"

Ash slowly turned and tried, and mostly failed, to put an innocent grin on his face. "Well, I can slip through solid surfaces. Besides, I had business and decided to stop for coffee. I was having a good time, until, well…" He trailed off on that sentence, as he had noticed Weiss was no longer listening as she was staring over his shoulder at Winter with a look of outrage on her face, her sister returning the look with a similar expression.

"Ash," Weiss started in a low, seemingly calm voice, "What, exactly, are you doing here with my sister?"

Ash was scared as hell right now. It would have been much, much better if she were yelling. If she sounded calm like this, it meant he was in serious trouble.

"Well, I was sitting here, drinking my coffee, and she kind of just… appeared," he said, laughing shortly.

To say Weiss was not amused would be an understatement.

"Hello, Weiss," Winter said, finally speaking.

"Winter," Weiss replied tersely.

Winter smirked. "Now, now, let's try to be civil for Ash here, shall we?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at her sister's interest in Ash.

Ash, meanwhile, was watching the two sisters carefully, idly wondering if he could get away without them noticing.

He sighed as the two sisters began to ignore him in favor of arguing with each other, Weiss sitting down next to him.

How was he supposed to get out of this?

* * *

**Beacon Academy**

Silver Aurelius liked to think that he had a high level of patience. Training his semblance up to what it was today required a lot of time and effort after all. But the one thing he hated the most was the amount of time it took to connect a call with his mom.

Sure, he was bending, if not breaking, the laws of physics to try to make sure he had some form of a relationship with his family, even if he and his family was a dimension apart. That didn't make it any easier to wait for the call to connect.

He needed to go keep an eye on the warehouse the White Fang was using to store all of its Dust crystals and such, so he had donned his mother's cloak for the occasion (his own cloak being a bit too recognizable by other Huntsmen, and the White Fang).

Just as he was finishing cleaning his pistol, the face of Summer Rose appeared on his computer screen, smiling warmly at him.

"Ah, Silver, it's good to see you again, and I see you've put my cloak to good use," she said.

Most people wouldn't be able to draw the connection between Silver and his mother unless they were standing next to each other, but he knew that his eyes were the exact same shape as hers, and that he had inherited his lithe frame from her along with his pale complexion. Just about everything else was from his father, Gray Aurelius. Although Summer insisted the silver streak of hair he had was from her, something about a genetic glitch in his hair, but he digressed.

"It has been a while since I last called, hasn't it?" he said, a small smile on his face.

Summer frowned. "How many. How many missions have you been on since we last talked?"

Silver gulped. "Mom…"

Summer gave him a hard glare, effective even through the video call. "Silver, how many?"

"Three or four," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear.

She didn't let up on the intensity of her glare. "How dangerous?"

Silver looked down from his seat at the computer, away from his mother's gaze, whispering his answer.

"I'm sorry? I didn't catch that," she said.

"We fought a Drakon," Silver replied, louder this time.

There was silence from Summer for almost two minutes until she finally sighed in exasperation (and a bit of irritation).

"I can't say I approve of you fighting one of the oldest living Grimm ever recorded, especially since I never imagined nor wanted this life for you, or Ruby for that matter."

Silver smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Mom, but I think this runs in the family. I'll make sure Ruby doesn't get into too much trouble. I'd say the same for Yang, but… she _is_ trouble."

Summer gave him a more light-hearted glare. "Don't talk about your step-sister like that, even if you are right to an extent."

Mother and son talked for several more minutes about what was going on either end, news about themselves and those around them. Silver got a stern talking to when he mentioned Blake to his mother.

When he finally ended the call and left to survey the WF warehouse, he didn't notice the blonde hair and wide lilac eyes that had been watching and listening for the latter half of the conversation.

* * *

**After so long, it is done! The Volume 2 arc will start shortly after Volume 3 is released, so expect updates more frequently than they have been.**

**Thoughts on Weiss and Winter?**

**And I'm sure you all know who was eavesdropping on Silver and Summer's conversation.**


	34. Cat and Dragon

**I'm updating again! That's right, more frequent updates (possibly, depends on my beta for my new project, but I digress). This will be the last filler chapter before I begin work on Volume 2. Enjoy.**

"_Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." –Omar Khayyam_

* * *

**Chapter 31: Cat and Dragon**

**Normal POV**

Silver took a long, deep breath of the fresh air permeating the small park he and Blake occupied in Vale. Ever since coming to Remnant, he and the rest of his team had loved the smell of the non-polluted air that came with using Dust instead of fossil fuels. He didn't think he'd ever stop appreciating it as much as he had the first time he had noticed it. It was a great feeling.

Currently, he and Blake were leaning against a tree together, Blake's head braced against his shoulder as she read a novel from his own collection while he lightly scratched behind her cat ears, the area of the park they were out of the way enough that she felt comfortable taking her bow off.

"I don't get it," Blake said suddenly, causing Silver to stop scratching for a moment. "Why would these people believe that a one-year-old would be able to survive a supposedly un-survivable curse _and_ stop such an evil and powerful man?"

Silver chuckled. "You know, that was one of the thoughts that went through my head when I first read it. From our view-point, that's entirely illogical, but to those within that society, it's the best, and least complicated, answer to the mystery."

Blake nodded. "Is it just me, or does the class system I'm starting to see have to do with blood and family ties?"

"It has everything to do with blood and family ties," Silver replied. "It almost gets to the point of the treatment of the Faunus for those without 'pure blood', if not a little bit worse at one point, but that's in a later book."

Eyes widening at this new information, Blake continued reading the book with a bit of excitement at learning more about this twisted culture.

As he continued to massage Blake's ears, Silver idly wondered if it was a mistake to allow Blake access to his personal stash of books, since most of them had to do with lands she had never heard of, and he couldn't provide direct answers for. She seemed to take the mysterious locations in stride, however, focusing more on the plot than the locations (not that the locations really mattered, honestly).

His thoughts soon turned away from his and Blake's reading interests to other things, such as the fact that for the last few days, Yang had either given him the cold shoulder, or sent heated glares his way. For the life of him he couldn't figure out what she was mad about, and what he had done (he could swear that her eyes turned red when she glared at him a couple times). Maybe he should talk to her later.

Then there was Ash's predicament with Weiss and Winter. Weiss had calmed down after a couple of days and hearing the full story from Ash, but she still seemed peeved about Winter seeking out Ash for apparent 'business' reasons.

Ash only seemed to see half of the situation. He obviously saw that Winter was making a move on him. What he didn't seem to see was that Weiss was 'marking her territory', so to speak.

It would have been a bit funny if not for the seriousness of possibly getting on Winter's bad side. Yes, they were friends with Weiss, and she had connections with the SDC, but Winter was a high-ranking executive within the company; getting on her bad side was not in their best interests.

In other news, Emerald or Mercury had made no moves on Tukson's bookstore yet (even if it was Torchwick's job). He suspected it would be within the next few days, as the new semester at Beacon started soon. Rowan was on watch duty at the moment, so he would be able to save Tukson by himself if he needed to with his semblance alone, although Silver would prefer that he have backup, just in case. Bai still had a bunch of those absolutely incredible Dust-infused arrows he had picked up in Visegrád, so he would make for good back up. Better yet, Ash could drop through the ceiling from the roof to help fight off anyone who might try to take out Tukson. Saving the former White Fang member's life would be the first of many changes they would be making now that they were going to take a more active role in Remnant affairs.

The snapping of fingers in front of his face alerted him to Blake trying to get his attention, making him look down at her as she looked at him with a curious expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You were zoned out. It took a full two minutes for me to get your attention."

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking."

Blake frowned. Her unofficial (or were they official?) boyfriend seemed to be "thinking" a lot lately. It kind of worried her, not that she was one to talk, since this was one of the very few times she didn't have her head stuck in her journal, trying to figure out what the White Fang's objective was.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Silver flashed her a grin. "Positive."

She didn't really believe him, but she didn't press, opting to continue reading.

"So," Silver began, "Are you ready for the new semester?"

Blake shrugged. She really didn't care as long as they could put a stop to whatever the White Fang was planning.

He smiled. "Yeah, that's pretty much my reaction to the new semester as well."

"Do you think anything interesting will happen this semester?" she asked.

Silver was silent for a few moments before answering, "Well, it _is_ Beacon. And between Yang and Ruby, not to mention you, Weiss, and JNPR, I'd be surprised if nothing of note took place."

Blake couldn't help but smile at that. She and her friends could be a tad bit crazy when it came to relieving stress and boredom, but that just came with being top teams within their class, didn't it?

"Do you want to go grab some lunch?" Silver asked. "We've been here for quite a while."

Blake marked her place in the book and closed it. "Sure."

She reached for her ribbon and retied her bow back into place, causing Silver to pout. Honestly, as mature as Silver was, he still had his moments where he acted like a child.

"I keep telling you that you look better without the bow," he stated.

"And I told you that I don't like the attention that my ears would attract if they were to be out in the open. I want to be seen for who I am, not what I am," she shot back.

Silver sighed. They'd had this argument once or twice before, and it always ended there. Neither of them really wanted it to go beyond that anyways.

"So, where are we going?" a voice asked from above them.

Silver and Blake looked up to see Sun hanging upside down from a tree branch above them, smiling cheekily down at them.

"How long have you been up there?" Blake asked, a small frown on her face.

"The past ten minutes. You guys are such nerds, talking about books and school starting, you know that?"

The monkey Faunus received two hard glares for his trouble at that remark.

"Okay, okay, I get it, geez," he said, dropping down from his position in the tree. "Are we going or what?"

Silver and Blake exchanged looks. Sun was a pretty cool guy to hang out with, and they'd had their time together for the day, so why not? Blake shrugged, and Silver turned back to the Monkey Faunus.

"Sure. Come on, Sun," Silver said, turning to walk out of the park. "Let's get something to eat, bananas, perhaps? And a tuna sandwich for you, Blake?"

Sun took the joke in stride as he followed Silver, while Blake sent the Dragon Slayer a mild glare for the jibe.

Not much of a group to the average person, but they weren't average. They were friends. They came from three different walks of life, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was the here and the now. Living life to the fullest every moment of their lives, because one never knew when their happiness (or life) could end.

Silver wouldn't have it any other way than to live his life, creating memories with his friends.

* * *

**This was a fairly short chapter to kind of set up for Volume 2. Was the ending a little bit philosophical (and dare I say, cheesy)? Probably. Do I care? Not really. Next chapter will get into Volume 2. Hype!**


	35. Breaking the Game

**And finally, the one you've all been waiting for! The filler is over, and done with (for now), and I'm finally doing what I should have started several weeks ago. Volume 2, everybody! Welcome to the new part, please leave a review and, most importantly, enjoy!**

"Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy." –Sun Tzu

* * *

**Chapter 32: Breaking the Game**

It was a beautiful day in the city of Vale. The sun was shining brightly, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, birds were flying freely, and people were taking advantage of the day to relax on the outdoor patios of the numerous cafés of the city.

In downtown Vale, it just so happened that the convenience store, "From Dust Till Dawn", was making a comeback, and the owner was hanging the re-opening sign over the door to attract customers. He had just finished and was climbing down his ladder when he fell due to someone accidentally knocking him over.

The man looked up to see a pretty teenaged girl with green hair and red eyes and chocolate-colored skin looking down at him.

"Excuse me. Sorry. I'm not really from around here," she said, offering a hand to help the man up. The man took the offered hand and was helped back up to a standing position. "Um, would you mind pointing me in the direction of this shop?" the girl asked, holding up a slip of paper with the shop's location on it. The man looked at the address and nodded, smiling as he gave her directions the shop.

The girl then walked off with a smile on her face, meeting up with a teenaged boy with dark grey eyes light-grey hair as he leaned against a wall.

"I knew you were lost," the boy commented as the girl passed him.

The girl turned and brought out the wallet she had pickpocketed from the old man, waving it at the boy. "Mercury, I will seriously pay you to shut up."

Mercury shook his head. "That's not your money."

"But it could be yours, for five minutes of silence," the girl retorted.

Mercury seemed to consider this for a moment. "Hmm. No deal."

The girl groaned, withdrawing a few bills from the wallet and tossing them on the ground. "Fine." She then walked off without waiting for Mercury to follow.

"Whatever, you want me," Mercury laughed as he moved to follow.

* * *

Above them, on the rooftops, two figures in black watched the two as they made their way to their destination.

The figure watching them through a riflescope lifted a radio to his masked face. "Emerald and Mercury are en-route to Tukson. Stall them, Ash."

"Got it," a voice replied.

* * *

Back with Emerald and Mercury, they were walking through the streets of Vale, taking in the city as they headed for Tukson's Book Trade while they talked.

"-And nice, dopey people who are easy to pickpocket," Mercury was saying.

Emerald stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "That's every city."

Mercury stopped to retort, but they were interrupted as a teen around their age with ice-blue eyes and grey hair a few shades darker than Mercury's own wearing a blue flannel shirt bumped into them due to their sudden stop, stumbling a bit as he slowed himself to prevent a fall. "Sorry," he said, and continued on his way, the old man's wallet that Emerald had stolen clenched in his hand.

Emerald and Mercury stared after him.

"That was rude," Emerald said after a few moments.

"Yeah… Weird," Mercury commented, his retort forgotten as he stared after the other boy.

Emerald was about to continue when she felt something missing on her person. Checking to see what she was missing, she found that she no longer had the wallet she had stolen.

Emerald glared in the direction the other teen had gone in, and found that he had mysteriously disappeared. "Why that little…"

"Something wrong?" Mercury asked with an amused tone.

"I'm fine," Emerald replied, not wanting to admit that she had been pickpocketed for something she had just stolen. "Come on," she said, walking down the street, irritated.

* * *

After several minutes of walking, they made it to Tukson's Book Trade, opening the door and entering, a bell ringing to announce their presence. They didn't notice a shimmer as an invisible figure slipped in behind them, standing off to the side.

Mercury browsed the selection of books while Emerald moved up to the register, ringing the bell for service.

"Be right there!" a man's voice echoed from the back of the shop.

Soon, a man backed through the doors leading to the back room, carrying two large stacks of books. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." He placed the books off to the side and moved to help the customer at the desk. "How may I-" He paused upon seeing Emerald, though his eyes darted quickly toward the invisible figure as well. "How may I help you?"

"Just browsing," Mercury said from his place at one of the bookshelves.

"Actually," Emerald started, "I was wondering, do you have any copies of 'The Thief and the Butcher'?"

"Yes, we do," the shop keep replied.

"That's great," Emerald stated.

"Would you like a copy?" Tukson asked uncertainly.

"No, just wondering."

Mercury closed a hardback book with a bang, placing it back on the shelf, and the shop keep's hazel eyes narrowed, darting between Mercury and the invisible figure off to the side, though he couldn't be too sure where his actual position was.

"Oh, oh! What about "Violet's Garden", in paperback?" Emerald asked.

"He's got it," Mercury said, holding up a book. "Hardback too."

Emerald tapped a finger to her cheek in thought. "Ooh, options are nice…"

"Eh, no pictures," Mercury commented, slamming the book closed with another audible bang. "Hey! Do you have any comics?"

"Near the front," the shopkeeper replied.

"Oh! No, wait, what about 'Third Crusade'?" Emerald asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as her voice lost a bit of its former cheerfulness.

The shopkeeper frowned in thought, his eyes flicking back to where he sensed the invisible figure briefly, Mercury subtly following his line of sight, but not seeing anything of interest and ignoring it. "Um- I don't believe we carry that one…"

Mercury frowned as he slammed another book closed. "Oh!"

"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked innocently.

"Tukson's Book Trade," the shop keep said.

"And… You're Tukson?" Emerald inquired.

"That's right," the newly identified Tukson confirmed.

"So, I take it, you're the one that came up with the catch-phrase?" Emerald questioned.

"Yes."

"And, what was it again?" Mercury asked in a condescending tone.

Tukson swore he heard the small sound of a rifle's safety being clicked off, but answered Mercury's question, sighing. "Tukson's Book Trade: Home to every book under the sun."

"Except the 'Third Crusade'," Mercury finished.

"It's just a catch-phrase," Tukson commented as he wondered if he imagined the sound of a gun being cocked.

"It's false advertising!" Mercury asserted.

"You shouldn't keep a promise you can't keep, Tukson," Emerald stated, all cheerfulness draining from her voice as Mercury moved to the window opacity controls. "I hear you're planning on leaving, moving all the way to Vacuo." Tukson's eyes were flickering between Emerald, Mercury, and the unknown and unseen figure as the windows darkened, allowing less light in. "Your brothers in the White Fang wouldn't be happy to hear that, and neither are we."

Mercury smiled as he finished darkening the windows, not noticing the shimmer as an invisible figure moved to cover Tukson.

"You know who we are, don't you?" Emerald asked.

Tukson's eyes narrowed as he sensed the danger he was in, his voice hardening. "Yes."

"And you know why we're here?" Emerald continued.

Tukson nodded slowly and deliberately, his eyes flickering to the new position of the figure. "Yes."

Silence reigned as Mercury strolled up to join Emerald at the desk, Tukson taking a defensive step back as the invisible figure stepped up next to him, whispering so that only he could hear. "Do not attack. You will die if you do. When I give the signal, get through the door and into the back alley. We'll take care of this."

Tukson gave a minute nod of understanding, unnoticeable unless one was actively looking for it.

"So," Emerald continued with a small smirk, "are you going to fight back?"

Tukson's eyes narrowed as he gave his own smile, hearing a comment from next to him. "No, I'm afraid not."

"And why would that be?" Emerald inquired curiously.

A figure dressed in a black coat with fur lining the collar, holding a sniper rifle over his shoulder seemed to materialize next to Tukson. "Because we told you to back off, and you didn't, so we're here to give you hell."

Emerald's eyes widened as she glanced back at Mercury, who had a similar expression. "'We'?"

The sniper seemed to smirk under his black mask. "Yep."

Before the crime duo could move, a figure in a white trench coat phased through a bookshelf, tackling Mercury to the ground and engaged in combat while another wearing a black hooded jacket and archer's bracers crashed through one of the windows and engaged Emerald with his swords, occasionally removing an arrow from the quiver on his back and throwing it at her to catch her off guard with the surprises they had.

* * *

Meanwhile, the sniper and Tukson had moved to the back alley, where a black sports car sat waiting for them.

"Get in," the sniper said, sliding into the driver's seat. "We're getting you out of here."

Tukson reluctantly took the passenger seat. "Where exactly are you taking me?"

"We have an airship arranged to get you to Vacuo. That's where you wanted to go, right?"

Tukson nodded and fastened his seatbelt as the sniper stepped on the gas. "Could I get a name for the person who saved my life?"

The sniper removed his mask from the lower half of his face, revealing his tanned features and a grin. "Rowan Chase, but don't spread that around, got it?"

* * *

Back at Tukson's shop, a battle was underway. Emerald had un-holstered her weapons and was going dual sickles on dual swords against the bowman in black.

Mercury, meanwhile, was having a bit more trouble. The kick boxer seemed unable to land a hit on the swordsman in white while he had to continuously dodge sword strikes and shots from the guns attached to his gauntlets.

"Just who are you?" Mercury asked as he blocked another slash with his boot.

The mystery swordsman just smirked under his white masquerade-style mask. "Nothing much. Just a normal person defending a man you were going to kill." The way he said the second sentence made Mercury wonder if this man knew much more than he let on. "Now come on, Mercury, show me you can at least put up a fight."

While he was shocked that this mystery man knew his identity, Mercury did not let that hold him back as he went in with a flurry of kicks and gunshots, he and the swordsman getting back into their fight with gusto.

Towards the back of the shop, Emerald had decided to release the kusarigama form of her weapons, her sickles now attached to chains as they twirled around her at the bowman. To his credit, he was very adept at dodging and weaving through her attacks, reforming his bow from his swords as he drew a black arrow from his quiver and drew it back, firing it at her feet and blowing her back with a small explosion.

"How do you keep on dodging my attacks?" she asked, frustrated.

The archer smirked under his hood. "I've had practice dodging, and a few losses under my belt. I've learned from my losses, and become better for it."

Emerald rolled her eyes. "Very philosophical."

The archer slid under another attack with a smile as he drew a dull blue arrow back. "I thought so." He fired the arrow and a transparent barrier appeared between the two conflicting parties when it hit the ground between them, Emerald and Mercury regrouping next to the front door. "I think we're done here. Tukson should be long gone by now." He smirked as the duo cursed under their breath.

The swordsman smiled. "At least you tried, right? Oh, wait- I forgot- Cinder won't be very happy, will she?"

The crime duo glared at the two mystery people and ran out the front door.

"That went well," the swordsman said as they walked out the back.

"And now it's Silver's turn to screw with them," the bowman replied as they hopped to the rooftops, disappearing shortly after.

* * *

Later that night, Emerald and Mercury walked tiredly back into the White Fang's main warehouse and base of operations in Vale. Inside, members of the White Fang were loading and unloading Dust supplies from Bullheads. Some of the members, however, took notice of the human fighters' tired demeanor and stared after them curiously for a few moments before getting back to work.

At the center of the warehouse, Roman Torchwick was standing by a stack of cargo containers, a table and a map next to him.

He turned as they walked up to him, ignoring their exhausted body-language as he said, "Oh, look! She sent the kids again!" He walked over to them and placed his arms around them, giving them a faux hug, eliciting groans from them as he hit some bruises from their respective fights. "This is turning out just like the divorce…"

The two teens shook him off.

"Spare us the thought of you procreating!" Emerald said, disgusted.

"That was a joke," Torchwick replied, holding up a slip of paper, "And _this_ just might tell me where you two have been all day!" He whirled around, holding the paper for them to see.

Emerald checked her back pocket, finding the note gone with a sound of protest.

"I'm a professional, sweetheart. Pay attention, maybe you'll learn something," Torchwick said before turning his attention to the paper. "Why do you have this address?"

The two teens stayed silent, any bravado they might have had having disappeared with their earlier failure.

"Well?" Torchwick pressed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald mumbled, rubbing her arm as a phantom pain lanced through it.

"Yeah, I would. Now, where have you been all day?" Torchwick asked again. The two teens went silent again, giving Roman a chance to really take in their appearance. "What happened?"

"We were _trying_ to clean up your problems," Mercury stated, defensively.

"I had that under control," Roman shot back.

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise," Mercury asserted.

"And it looks like you did _so_ much better!" Torchwick said. "If it were up to me, I would take you, and your little street rat friend here, and I would-"

"Do what, Roman?" a woman's voice broke in from above.

The two teens and Torchwick looked up to see Cinder Fall standing on a catwalk, descending on an elevator platform.

The two teens sulked slightly at her arrival, but were happy to have her come to their defense, for the time being.

Torchwick laughed nervously. "I'd, uh, not kill them?"

Cinder stalked towards Roman and her two accomplices. "I thought I made it clear, that you were to eliminate the run-away?"

"I _was_ going to-" Roman started.

"_He_ was going to escape to Vacuo-" Emerald broke in, only to be cut off by Roman.

"And he did, because you didn't manage to stop him, did you?"

Cinder diverted her attention towards her two protégés.

"That rat got lucky. If it weren't for those stupid mystery people, we would have had him," Emerald defended.

"I think he was some sort of cat, actually," Mercury commented.

"What?" Emerald asked a bit heatedly, irritated at their failure. "Like a puma?"

"Yeah, there you go."

"Quiet," Cinder commanded, angrily. "Did I not _specifically_ instruct you to keep your hands clean while in Vale? Now, not only did you fail to stay undetected, but you also let these… interlopers get the best of you, and the target escaped."

Emerald looked down, ashamed, and was about to attempt to defend herself when a new voice cut in from the rafters above them.

"'Don't think. Obey," a man's voice commented. "That's what you were going to say, right Cinder?"

The four criminals' eyes snapped upwards, searching for the source of the voice, finding nothing.

"Over here," the man said, somehow leaning against the crates nearby when he was just in the rafters before. His snowy white cloak with its red inner lining stood out against the dark materials around him. "You know, I'm really flattered by how you actually see us as an interference. I was wondering if you were just going to brush us off and we would have to resort to more drastic measures to really grab your attention."

"But, of course," Cinder replied easily, her eyes still wary, "Your associates were able to fend off mine in a confined space for long enough that you were able to get the run-away safely evacuated. Most impressive."

The man smirked under his hood. "Coming from you, I'll take that as praise on par with the council's, maybe even better."

"Oh? If you hold them in such a regard, then why do you fight against us?" Cinder inquired curiously.

The man shrugged. "They may not be perfect, but having a single person ruling, or having complete anarchy with the Grimm still out there isn't something I particularly like either. The lesser evil, if you will."

Cinder pondered his words for a few moments. "Interesting. You still plan to fight us?"

"At every turn."

"And if _I_ were to become more drastic in my plans?" Cinder questioned.

"Then I would step up ours to match. We take this seriously, but we'll let you make your own foolish mistakes, and defend the innocent from losing their lives."

Silence reigned as Cinder and the cloaked man stared each other down, Torchwick, Emerald, and Mercury watching the exchange in mild shock.

"I see," Cinder finally spoke. "I do hope to have more interesting conversations like this."

"We'll see," the man grinned as he turned to leave. "Stay out of Beacon, won't you?"

With that said, he walked out of the warehouse, ignoring the White Fang members watching him, and leaving behind a surprised Cinder Fall.

* * *

**That's the chapter! Any questions you may have, feel free to leave them in the reviews! Later!**


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